Accelerating Utility Locates: Eliminate delays and streamline construction workflows for time efficiency.

Locates are a vital yet relatively unheralded part of the construction process. There are many factors that can contribute to locate delays, including the need for stakeholders to be able to scale to accommodate the large number of locates necessary for a fiber project and finding the resources needed for securing adequate personnel who can perform locates in an accurate and timely fashion.

Stakeholder participation is essential to making locates and the construction process go smoothly. Transparency throughout the locate process and excavation with the stakeholders will ensure optimal project efficiency start to finish.

The data that stands behind this paper is only as reliable as the participants in the submittal process make it. Damage is expensive, however participating in the DIRT report by entering data anonymously will provide deeper understanding of the root causes of damage plaguing our industry, unnecessarily inflating project costs.

Adhering to these recommendations in this paper should encourage collaboration among facility owners, locators, and excavators, leading to timely and accurate underground utility locates, which is critical for the prosperity of unserved and underserved communities.