The Common Ground Alliance, the national nonprofit trade association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them and their communities, published its 2023 Damage Information Reporting Tool Report. The report introduces the CGA Index, a new metric for evaluating year-over-year damage trends, which revealed both progress and a critical need for accelerated action to prevent damage to vital underground infrastructure.
The annual DIRT Report provides a comprehensive analysis of damages to buried infrastructure in the U.S. and Canada to help stakeholders understand the damage landscape and the factors contributing to underground facility damages. In its inaugural year, the CGA Index metric shows a six-point decrease in damages compared to the 2022 baseline. However, to meet CGA’s industry goal of reducing damages by 50% over five years, the report underscores that significant work is needed.
Getting to the Root Cause of Damage
The 2023 DIRT Report reveals enduring challenges, with the same top six damage root causes accounting for a staggering 76% of all incidents for a third consecutive year:
- Failure to notify 811 (26.23%)
- Excavator failed to maintain clearance (15.12%)
- Facility not marked due to locator error (14.43%)
- Improper excavation practice not listed elsewhere (8.20%)
- Marked inaccurately due to locator error (7.23%)
- Excavator dug prior to verifying marks by potholing (4.61%)
The complete report, along with an interactive dashboard featuring data from 2021-23, is available at https://dirt.commongroundalliance.com.
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