by Curt Hodges, President

It's hard to believe that in less than one month I will be stepping down and welcoming the next Iowa One Call President into office. That's not to say that there have been no memorable achievements on the part of Iowa One Call this past year. 

Throughout 2009, nearly every industry reported economic impediments, obstacles, or decline. During this trying time, while other state one call systems struggled with huge declines in transmissions (incoming and outgoing calls) - some as much as thirty percent - Iowa One Call saw an increase in total call volume and finished the year two percent above 2008. This is as much a testament to the fortitude and hard work of Iowa's excavators (contractors, utilities and homeowners) as anything. 

In addition to experiencing an increase in call volume, IOC also saw fewer dig-ins in 2009 (the lowest in ten years). In fact, this has become a trend with the Iowa One Call System as the call volume has risen consistently over the last ten years, while the number of dig-ins has decreased consistently for the same ten-year period. While the industry saw some states raising the transmission costs to utility members, IOC did not and continues to maintain one of the lowest transmission costs in the industry.

As with previous years, IOC developed and implemented new programming. The new Electronic Positive Response System, which was in development for nearly a year, was officially rolled out at the beginning of 2010. In 2009 the Advertising Committee and administrative staff took on an even greater role in developing in-house marketing and public relations programming, allowing for greater program efficiency and the statewide implementation of a successful media-based public education program.

My experiences leading the Iowa One Call Board this past year have left me with not only valuable, but highly memorable, insights. The written word cannot adequately express the appreciation I have toward my fellow board members and the administrative staff for all of the help they provided me and for their dedication to Iowa One Call and damage prevention. I look forward to my tenure on the Executive Committee as Chairman beginning this May and I am very pleased to welcome Dan Klopfer to the Iowa One Call Presidency. Dan has a passion for the damage prevention industry and a great vision for Iowa One Call. He will undoubtedly prove to be a great asset as the next Iowa One Call President.

by Nancy Jensen, Call Center Manager

Happy 2010! I can't believe how quickly 2009 flew by. Even with the lackluster economy, Iowa One Call dig ticket volume did exceed 2008 by 2%. It will be interesting to see what 2010 brings to the excavation world in our great State of Iowa.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would like to remind all excavators of a few options when requesting a dig ticket from Iowa One Call.

Ticket Entry

Please try one of our great dig-ticket entry programs that Iowa One Call has available to all excavators.  Both of these programs are very simple and allow you to enter tickets at your convenience.   Oh...and they are both FREE.

1. IBIS: Internet Based Input System  With this FREE software you will be able to submit your own dig-tickets and receive documentation of your locate request, along with a list of all members that are notified for that dig site. All tickets can be stored on your computer for future reference and for your records.Training is also FREE so please call Jeff Tatusko at 412-415-5089 to take advantage of this great program.
2. ONTRY: ONe call Ticket entRY  Web based ticket entry program. Enter ticket info (most information is off a drop down menu), submit information and after the ticket is processed you will receive an email of the entire dig-ticket along with a list of utilities notified. With what I call Ontry-plus, enter all information (again, most from drop down menus) then you can do the mapping of the dig site, just as the call center customer service rep does. Who knows better where the dig site is than you the excavator? Again...FREE. Visit www.iowaonecall.com for more information.

Ticket search site

Have you or your company ever needed a copy of your dig-ticket? Please go to www.onecallresponse.com/ia to register for a user name and password, which will allow you to search records of all the dig-tickets your company has requested.Unless you use this program (or one of the systems listed above), IOC will not automatically send you a copy of the dig-ticket. You will need to go to this site to receive this information.

Have a great dig season and always remember...

CALL BEFORE YOU DIG. IT'S FAST, IT'S FREE AND IT'S THE LAW.

by Steve Stone, ESAP Committee Chairman

The last of the 2010 Excavation Safety Awareness Program (ESAP) meetings was completed on March 24, after 29 presentations were conducted across the state. The first meeting for the year was held in Creston on January 11^th. This year's series of programs, presented by facilitator Bob Pose, included a Power Point/video presentation entitled "Working Together." Much preparation and planning was done months in advance to provide updated and interesting information at the annual ESAP meetings. It is always in the best interest of all stakeholders to do their part to make certain that excavations are done safely and according to Iowa law. Whether you are an excavator, property owner, or a utility operator, everyone should work together to make certain that excavations are performed safely and with no disruption of vital public services. At the end of the day, we all want to return home safely to our families and the community we live in. If you have not yet attended an Iowa One Call Excavation Safety Awareness Program meeting, I encourage you to do so during the next series of programs beginning in January 2011. The ESAP Committee will begin preparations for the 2011 Excavation Safety Awareness Program in May. Look for your ESAP registration to be mailed out the second or third week in November 2010. As always, you will be able to register online at www.iowaonecall.com and see a list of upcoming meetings. Whether you attend a breakfast or lunch meeting, the food is good, the coffee is hot, and it's warm inside. We hope to see you there again next season.

Dig Safe.

by Leon Hofer, Legislative Committee Chairman

During the 2009 session of the Iowa Legislature, no One Call issues were under discussion, since the main focus of the session was the state budget. There were some discussions, however, between the Iowa One Call Board and other parties regarding items that are under consideration by the Legislative Committee. Based on that, a detailed investigation of practices in other states regarding white lining was conducted. This effort focused on states that already had statutes in their state code concerning white lining or a requirement for pre-marking. Actual text of the code in these states was reviewed and direct contact was made to a number of states to understand how their practices were actually implemented.

We found that in every case, exceptions were allowed so that white lining was not employed for every dig ticket processed. We also found that no call centers refused to take a ticket if it had not been white lined. Based on this work, the Legislative Committee recommended that Iowa procedures be reviewed with the aim of increasing the use of the practice of white lining. Currently a little over 20% of all dig tickets in Iowa employ the use of white lining. It was also found that the percentage of dig-ins on tickets that were pre-marked was substantially lower than for tickets that were not pre-marked, or white lined. Therefore, increased use of pre-marking could reduce the number of dig-ins experienced in Iowa.

by Ross Wendell, SOTA Committee Chairman

Many of Iowa's largest owner/operators, including Iowa Network Services, Iowa Telecom, Alliant Energy, Des Moines Water Works, Qwest and PAETEC, have added the Positive Response System (PRS) to their tool kit for providing positive response to our excavators. Other companies like MediaCom,  MidAmerican Energy, Black Hills Energy and several others are continuing to evaluate the system. Currently, about 30% of all tickets are being responded to using the new PRS. This number will continue to grow.

Those excavators who attended the Excavation Safety Awareness meetings saw a video clip explaining how the PRS works and how excavators can use the PRS to further their business interests. Any excavator can go to the web site (www.iowaonecall.com), click on Positive Response System, enter a ticket number and his/her phone number, and see the responses that have been made. He/she can also see the actual ticket as well as an aerial photo and map of the project site. Regular users will want to register which will permit them to see more than one ticket at a time-all the tickets he/she has entered over a selected time frame. Another benefit of registering as an excavator is that registered excavators will receive their choice of an email or SMS message as soon as all owner/operators have responded or after the usual two business day period has expired, whichever comes sooner. We think that excavators will find the PRS so useful that they will be asking all the owner/operators they work with to use the System.

We are also finalizing some major enhancements to the Design Service Request System based on feedback we've gathered from the over 70 firms currently using it. Some of these enhancements include a larger, more user friendly map; surface features such as water ways and railroads; an aerial photo of the design site; the ability to search on the project name; and the project name printed on the list of contacts. The enhancements improve an already great system.

by Steve Halstead, Mapping Coordinator

In early March I attended the Common Ground Alliance's Excavation Safety Conference in San Diego. It was a good conference with lots of interesting seminars-so many in fact that I was not able to attend all the ones I wanted. Many of the sessions I attended dealt with using GPS (Global Positioning System) and GIS (Geographical Information System) in conjunction with damage prevention efforts.

One of the most interesting sessions was a status report on the Virginia Project. Using federal grant money, Phase 1 started a couple of years ago by distributing GPS enabled cell phones to some fifty excavators. The excavators were to go to their excavation site and use the cell phone to establish the GPS coordinates of the four corners of their excavation. They then called the Virginia Call Center and transmitted these data as the location of the dig ticket they were requesting. The GPS location of the excavation site was sent to the locators along with an aerial photo of the site with the excavation shown.

In Phase 2, some locating companies were provided with mapping grade GPS devices so that when they went out to do the locates on dig tickets, not only did they lay down paint and/or flags, they also recorded the GPS coordinates of the utility they were locating. These data were then submitted to the Call Center database. Over time, the Call Center will have GPS coordinates for most, if not all, of the underground utilities in the state. All new utilities are located with GPS and those data are also going into the database.

Phase 3 has just started. A very large highway intersection is being rebuilt requiring a relocation of all the utilities in the area. Radio Frequency Marker Balls were inserted every so often which provide the X, Y, and Z location components. These data were added to the database but were also programmed into the onboard GPS devices in the excavators and dozers on the project. Audio and video warnings are given whenever a dozer or excavator encroaches on the buffer zone around a utility. Continuing the encroachment will shut down the excavator or dozer.

Will these efforts reduce the number and severity of dig ins? The data are just now coming in, so it is too early to tell. It is clear that technology will play an important role in future efforts to protect our underground facilities.