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According to CGA’s Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report, the annual rate of damages to buried infrastructure in the U.S. has remained stagnant for most of the last decade, and costs the U.S. a staggering $30 billion every year. Each of the hundreds of thousands of dig-ins to underground utilities that occur annually has the potential to cripple communities and businesses by cutting them off from critical services, causing serious injury or even loss of life. Construction spending has increased steadily over time, and new investments into the country’s infrastructure suggest that this damage trend will continue unless the industry addresses the persistent challenges contributing to underground damages.
“50 in 5”: Damage Reduction Calls
for Bold Industry Action
Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the national nonprofit trade association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines, people who dig near them and their communities, issued its “50 in 5” industry challenge in early 2023 with a goal of reducing damages to critical underground utilities by 50% in five years. The “50 in 5” challenge aims to address damages to our Nation’s critical assets head-on by bringing damage prevention advocates together around
a targeted set of strategic, data-driven priorities.
CGA’s industry challenge encourages the damage prevention industry to concentrate on three focus areas that prioritize critical issues identified by CGA’s Next Practices Initiative and the top damage root causes that contribute
to more than 76% of damages to buried infrastructure, according to CGA's most recent DIRT Report:
1. Effective and consistent use of
811: DIRT data and market research indicates that, while 811 awareness
is very high, particularly among professional excavators, 60% of damages to underground utilities are caused specifically by professionals
not contacting 811 prior to excavation. The issue is not awareness among professional excavators, but rather the lack of consistent and effective use of the 811 system that contributes to these damages. To help implement behavior change by these professionals, CGA unveiled a refreshed 811 tagline, “Safety is in your hands. Every dig. Every time,”
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