2020 DIRT Report Reveals Damage Prevention Challenges Continue Amidst Global Pandemic

Common Ground Alliance has released the findings from its 2020 Damage Information Reporting Tool Report. The report analyzed all 2020 data submitted voluntarily by facility operators, utility locating companies, one call centers, contractors, regulators and others from the U.S. and Canada using an in-depth statistical modeling process. The results of this analysis found that an estimated 468,000 excavation-related damages to underground facilities occurred in the U.S. in 2020. Construction activity was down 4.2% in 2020 from 2019 as measured by construction spending and adjusting for steep inflation in building materials and supplies that occurred in 2020, according to the report’s analysis. The report suggests that in addition to a dip in construction activity in 2020, the overall emphasis on safety as a result of the global pandemic may have led to less crowded and potentially fewer distracting jobsites, leading to an overall reduction in damages from the year prior.

While estimated damages in the U.S. decreased in 2020, the report depicts a five-year trend in damage rates that has plateaued. The 2020 DIRT Report predicts the next few years will bring an increase in construction activity and the potential of a national infrastructure program that will require the damage prevention industry to focus its efforts on addressing the consistent rate of damages and estimated $30 billion in societal costs incurred as a result of damages to buried infrastructure each year.

The 2020 DIRT Report analyzes the root causes of reported damages and finds that out of 26 possible causes, the top five damage root causes reported in 2020 made up nearly 70% of the total damages reported. The report also notes the consistency in top damage drivers year-over-year, indicating persistent and prevalent issues, and recommends that damage prevention programs examine how they are addressing these specific root causes: failure to notify 811, failure to pothole and/or maintain clearance and facilities not marked or marked inaccurately due to locator error or the presence of an abandoned facility. The 2020 DIRT Report suggests that targeting improvements in the handful of persistent root causes may yield dramatic overall reduction in the number of annual damages to buried facilities.

Several additional recommendations for the damage prevention industry are provided in the report, including capturing more granular data on reasons for not notifying 811, addressing damages due to faded or lost marks that occur early in a project and utilizing the DIRT Interactive Dashboard to explore damage data pertinent to a specific organization, industry or region. Additionally, the report recommends that one call centers explore utilizing common data collection, reporting processes and metrics for late locates to understand how varying state requirements impact ticket volume.

The 2020 DIRT Report includes a number of appendices that dive into state-specific data to create a fuller picture of damages to underground facilities around the country. To help the industry better understand the unique circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Appendix D contains data from several one call centers illuminating how construction activity and ticket requests were affected at the state level. Additionally, Appendix D takes a state-level look at the much-discussed issue of late locates and their impact on damages, with responses from a number of one call centers that share how they are confronting this challenge.

The complete DIRT Annual Report for 2020 is available for download at www.commongroundalliance.com, and stakeholders interested in submitting data to the 2021 Report or establishing a virtual private DIRT account should visit the DIRT site at www.cga-dirt.com.