811 Alaska Digline provides excavation notification services and stakeholder education designed to provide for public safety and underground facility damage prevention and encourage compliance with applicable laws.
Your Responsibilities
After receiving a locate ticket from Alaska Digline Inc., members or their agents (locating companies) have two (2) full business days, excluding weekends and holidays; or 10 business days in remote or unstaffed areas to do one of the following:
Physically mark the excavation site according to the American Public Works Association Color Code.
Contact the excavator to re-schedule the locate when the site cannot be located within two business days.
Provide the best information available when underground facilities cannot be located.
Whether you are a professional Excavator, Contractor, Engineer or Handyman, you play an important role keeping Alaskans safe with EVERY dig. Alaska State law requires that locates are requested before beginning any excavation. There are no exemptions from the requirement to get locates in Alaska.
Call 811 two (2) business days prior to excavation in most areas; ten (10) business days prior to excavation in remote areas. OR submit your request for locates at your convenience using our Fax-A-Locate Program or eTicket program.
Download: Excavator Handbook
What You Need to Know
Excavators throughout the State of Alaska are responsible for notifying utilities or their 811 Alaska Digline representative of their proposed excavations enabling owners of underground facilities near the excavation site an opportunity to protect their facilities and the general public from harm.
Gather the information for your excavation site prior to submitting a locate ticket. You will be required to give accurate address information and detailed directions to the excavation site in addition to a description of where on the property the excavation will take place so utilities can sufficiently mark the dig site. Please delineate the area of excavation in white paint — this leaves little doubt as to where you will be digging.
Call a minimum of 2-14 working days prior to excavation. Given the volatile Alaskan weather, ADI recommends you call not more than 7 working days* prior to excavation. *Remote or un-staffed areas require a minimum of 10 working days notice.
When your locate ticket is complete, you will be given a ticket number and a list of members with underground facilities near your excavation site. ADI recommends you record your ticket number for future reference.
By law, you must wait two full business days (10 business days for remote or un-staffed locations) for members to do one of the following:
Physically locate and mark the horizontal location of underground facilities within your excavation site. Note: This does not include the vertical depth of the underground facility.
Contact you to schedule a new locate for a time that is mutually agreeable and will not unreasonably delay your work.
If after the required time, the member(s) has not contacted you or located the underground facility, contact ADI immediately and a customer service agent will assist you.
Some 811 Member facility owners supply real time status updates as your dig location is marked or cleared. You can check your ticket status online STATUS. It is the excavator’s responsibility to maintain the marks. Utilities may charge for Relocates caused by the excavator’s failure to do so.
If you come in contact with an underground facility during excavation, even if there is no noticeable damage you must stop excavation and contact the owner of the underground facility directly.
Exercise reasonable care and respect the Tolerance Zone! Dig by hand or vacuum excavation within two (2) horizontal feet of buried utilities; if digging deeper than ten (10) feet hand dig within thirty (30) horizontal inches. Depth of lines cannot be guaranteed. Private/Consumer Owned facilities are not located through 811.
Planning a home improvement job? Planting a tree? Installing a fence or deck? WAIT!
Here’s what you need to know first!
Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or hire a professional, smart digging means always calling 811 before each project.
Don’t gamble with your safety – knowing where the underground utility lines are will help protect you from injury, prevent damage to utilities, service disruptions, potential fines and repair costs … plus its FREE! Why wouldn’t you call?
Just call 811 at least 2 business days or up to 10 days before you want to start digging. (2 business days in most areas). That means if you call 811 Tuesday morning, 811 member utilities will have your service lines marked by noon Thursday – just in time for your weekend project!
Call 811 Monday through Friday 8 am -5 pm or click ORDER to submit your request for markings online.
You may see utility companies notified for services that you don’t have because those lines are near your dig site.
811 Member utility companies locate public facilities they own. They do not locate private/consumer-owned facilities including water and sewer service lines, lines running from the meter to your house or structure, irrigation lines, landscape lighting, and electric to external structures, wells, or septic systems. If you need private/consumer-owned lines marked, you must hire a private line locator.
If you have contracted/hired a company to excavate, Alaska Statute 42.30.400(a) requires the excavator (your contractor) to get facility markings, not the property owner. The excavator is responsible for ensuring the locates meet the needs of the project, the crew utilizes safe digging techniques during the project and helps keep everyone safe.
