Innovative Technology for Agricultural Excavators

According to the CGA, almost half of the people who dig this year will put their community at risk and do so without contacting an 811 call center.  An underground utility line is damaged in this country once every three minutes and a full third of those incidents are because there was no effort to locate the utility lines.  MUUDS markers help avoid that costly damage on public and private property alike whether a call is made or not.  While calling for a location is legally required in most states, failure to do so remains a common practice and MUUDS markers help avoid the high cost of not locating by avoiding damage and personal injury. MUUDS, helping to save lives, money and down time!

Despite all of the high tech advances in recent years for underground utility locating, there remains a high rate of damage to utility lines because the marking of those lines fails to identify the depth.  A majority of contractors in South Dakota, believe that simply marking the locations, will not inherently decrease the incident rate because the depth of a utility is still unknown.  Current methods pose a problem for farmers or agricultural property owners because markers are above ground and still do not identify the depth, plus they are a visual and physical nuisance.

MUUDS Utility markers addresses BOTH of these problems and aid in utility marking, WITHOUT being a problem in their day to day activities.  MUUDS markers help save agricultural excavators money by helping to avoid costly damage to utility lines, while remaining buried so mowing is not a problem and the markers can not be damaged by livestock or farm equipment.

MUUDS markers are ideally suited for agricultural purposes to protect underground lines for the increasing use of wind turbines and solar panels, septic lines, irrigation lines and buried electrical lines powering high tech feed and fertilizer systems.  According to Purdue University, the major problem with avoiding costly damage to utility lines is that drawings or records are not maintained, lost or reference points are removed like buildings or trees.  MUUDS markers position and ability to be discovered do not change over the years and approximate location is always sufficient to lead to the depth marker to avoid damage or locate the utility.

As operations expand on a site, MUUDS are a convenient way to minimize the exploration to add to exisiting lines from their termination point and uniquely identify the vertical tolerance zone that no other product on the market identifies.  Our patented system gives agricultural excavators and anyone digging all the information they need to avoid damage, save money and work efficiently and safely.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Urges Homeowners, Excavators to Avoid a ‘Grimm’ Situation in New ‘Call 811 Before You Dig’ Public Service Announcement

http://phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles//PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Press%20Releases/PHMSA%20Call%20811%20PSA%20Event%20Media%20Advisory.pdf

USDOT engages in national safety education campaign promoting safe digging practices!

Resident's Basement Floods from a Water Line Hit

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/City-improvements-rile-South-Troy-homesteader-3581252.php

NOT marking the vertical tolerance of a water line caused an accidental hit which, in turn, caused a resident's basement to flood.  This is a common because the VERTICAL TOLERANCE is not marked.  A Utility Depth Marker provides the exact measurement of the vertical tolerance and prevents this type of damage.

Dangers Facing Construction Workers

The Dangers Facing Excavation Construction Workers

Construction is a dangerous industry. While all construction workers have difficult and potentially dangerous jobs, some specific types of construction work are particularly dangerous. For example, trenching and excavation are particularly dangerous jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the fatality rate for excavation workers is 112% higher than that for general construction workers.*

What Dangers Do Excavation Workers Face?

There are many dangers that face excavation workers who are working in trenches. Some of the dangers include*:

• Cave ins. If the trench collapses with construction workers inside it, the results can be catastrophic.
• Asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen in a confined space. Trenches may not be properly ventilated, and workers may not have proper equipment to get them the fresh air that they need to breathe.
• Inhalation of toxic fumes. Toxic substances that are found underground and in the construction industry can quickly become fatal in the confined, unventilated areas of a trench.
• Drowning. If water is in the trench and rises faster than workers can get out, drowning can occur.
• Electrocution. When utilities are used underground, the danger of electrocution exists.
• Explosions. When equipment is used either underground or above ground close to the trench site, an explosion can occur that causes a cave in or other injury to the excavation workers.

****Information can be found at http://www.hofmannlawfirm.com/library/nj-ny-excavation-injury-trench-accident-construction-lawyers.cfm

IOWA Excavation Accident

http://thegazette.com/2012/04/26/workers-recovering-after-northwest-iowa-explosion/

http://thegazette.com/2012/05/01/excavation-contractors-say-they-know-dangers-of-buried-gas-pipelines/

These accidents and injuries can be avoided.

Utility Markers and Alternative Energy

As gasoline prices inch towards $4.00/gallon and possibly beyond by summer, it might be worthwhile, discussing how MUUDS can benefit the alternative energy industry.

MUUDS utility markers are designed to identify a vertical tolerance zone for the depth of a utility with our tracer cord outlining the directional path of the underground utility.  While the benefits of MUUDS for water, gas and sewer lines may seem more readily apparent to some because of their burial depth, when it comes to electric lines, especially in the case of solar panels or wind turbines, their use may have increased value.

The return on investment for solar or wind power may be years out in many cases making the protection and security of the transmission lines all the more important to the facility or owner.  MUUDS can be manufactured at any desired length and installed to protect the transmission lines of solar panels or wind turbines.

Statistically, 37% of accidents occur because 811 is not called prior to an excavation, meaning no one is aware that excavation is taking place.  Regardless of who causes the damage, if the service lines for your alternative energy source are interrupted, the down time and costly repairs can add demonstratively to the length of time for a return on your investment.

MUUDS offer a low cost damage prevention option to protect your lines AND your investment.  As a nation as we attempt to move further away from foreign oil dependance and embrace alternative sources of energy, ensuring the protection of the underground transmission lines is increasingly important.  Furthermore, contractors installing MUUDS utility markers at the time of installation, add value to their services by ensuring that if repairs or alterations need to be made,  they have provided a physical path to the utility to aid in discovery and avoid damage even after calling 811.

As we explore alternative energy sources, a focus on damage prevention becomes increasingly important, to protect both people and the investment in the technology.

MUUDS plays VEGAS!

As a company entering the utility industry, with a new and patented technology, we were thrilled to join the CGA conference in Las Vegas and introduce our utility depth marker to a national audience!

The great thing about this industry is how gracious everyone involved with utility safety is to a new concept, product and the people presenting it.  We met some terrific people from all over the country who were very receptive to our marker and the number of benefits it promises to bring to the industry.  The unique attributes of our utility marker hold tremendous promise for adding safety and damage prevention to existing and new utilities or any buried facility.

As expected, one of the great things about attending a conference like the CGA show, is the opportunity to have open discussions with new people who point out applications for your product that may not have been obvious and to learn a little bit from every show.

In Las Vegas, the term that surfaced that is applicable to our marker was the fact that MUUDS identifies a VERTICAL TOLERANCE ZONE for an underground utility.  We had conversations with a number of people who recognized that MUUDS are an asset for damage prevention of new utilities and ideal for vacuum excavations where we are recording data for existing utilities.

Perhaps the great thing about the show for us is identifying that our utility marker has international applications and has the ability to set a standard for utility markers identifying depth to avoid damage to utilities.

Next up, we head out to Lexington, Kentucky to introduce our utility marker to County Engineers at their conference.  We appreciate the warm response we received from other exhibitors and attendees in Las Vegas and look forward to the  show next year in Florida!