SUMSF 2023 Panel: Next Steps in the Evolution of Damage Prevention
For the May 16, 2023, SUMSF 2023 livestream panel discussion, “Next Steps in the Evolution of Damage Prevention,” Steve Slusarenko, Director of CUIR, Gopher State One Call ‘s Chief of Operations Officer, Barb Cederberg, Peter Lamb, Professional Land Surveyor/Deputy Chief Surveyor at Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), and Lawrence Arcand, President at 4Sight Utility Engineers, joined their knowledge and expertise together to inspire and inform participants. Slusarenko acted as moderator for this discussion.
Cederberg responded to the first question by remembering how when she realized damages were not going down in five years, she wondered, “What can we do differently?” and “What action can we take to improve the industry?” She then became involved in two projects, the Minnesota Utility Mapping Project and GPS locating device project, both were successful. She noted both successes and failures. Cederberg noted the importance of getting underground utilities mapped.
Arcand responded next, saying he felt the key was to figure out what people want to do with the data. There are two different fields who could use this information. The first field is the locate and damage prevention field, and the second field is the subsurface utility engineering side. Both fields have similar requirements and use similar data, but have different intentions. He looked forward to discussing how the requirements could be achieved and to come up with something to be proud of.
Lamb entered the discussion and said he found it strange that land surveyors were doing a great job of keeping track of the “invisible lines” that marked boundaries, but not keeping track of the invisible lines under the ground that could do a lot of damage. He noted the difficulties that could arise when the underground information was not available. When he began his work with the MTO, he was assigned reviewing post-construction reports. The reports highlighted what went well, and not so well, with a pattern of utilities uncovered at construction causing issues and delays.
Watch and listen to the whole panel discussion to find out more.
