811 Magazine Blog

Pipeline Safety; Before, During and After the Fire

Pipeline Safety; Before, During and After the Fire

By Doug Meeks Texas 811 In the world of “Know What’s Below, Call 811 Before You Dig”, we are accustomed to protecting pipelines from damage from routine construction and maintenance activities and the system works pretty well, even in emergency situations. By calling...

GIS: The Backbone of a One-Call System

GIS: The Backbone of a One-Call System

By Meaghan Feeney, GIS Specialist, and Bill Berzins, Director of IT/GIS, Tennessee 811  How we use GIS as a one-call system: A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. We use GIS to...

Good Locates Start with Good Maps

Good Locates Start with Good Maps

By Jason Kouba Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee811 What is the importance of mapping when it comes to locating underground utilities? You’ve heard it a million times within the industry, “If I had x-ray vision I would never mis-mark a line.” Unfortunately, we have...

Surveying and Locating in One

Surveying and Locating in One

Vivax-Metrotech Finds Success With Unique Tool By Michael Downes 811 Magazines Launching a new product is always a challenge but doing so just a month into a global pandemic takes serous bravery. But for one company, the result is revolutionizing the locating and...

What’s the Difference Between GIS and Mapping?

What’s the Difference Between GIS and Mapping?

By Roger Cox President, ACTS Now, Inc. And if there is a difference, whose fault is it that many of us in the field don’t really know the difference? It can’t be JUST our fault. As excavators and locators, what we know about such things are, for the most part, what...

MVP: Donny Whittaker

MVP: Donny Whittaker

By Jason Fryer Damage Prevention Liaison Tennessee811 Before I tell you about our next Damage Prevention MVP, I want to stress the word passion. Merriam-Webster defines passion as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept. To...

Using Subsurface Utility Engineering Wisely

Using Subsurface Utility Engineering Wisely

SUE can be costly, but good communication can help to reduce the price tag. By Michael Downes 811 Magazines How well do you know SUE? No, not your mother’s best friend, but the project manager’s best friend for the last 30 years—subsurface utility engineering. The...

The Direction

The Direction

Presented by 811 Outdoors, Partners with Mossy Oak and MOOSE Media  The Direction – an adventure-travel fishing television series in its 4th season, has formed a partnership with Mossy Oak, one of America’s premier outdoor brands, announced host and producer, Mark...

Resolving the Unknown

Resolving the Unknown

By Glenn Fox, Horrocks Engineers  For Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) providers, identifying utility & pipeline owners on large-scale projects can be challenging. Although SUE providers can work with Texas811 to gather owner information, there is not a...