Winter in Minnesota is no joke with snow, ice, and frigid temperatures. Despite all that, excavation still happens—in fact, from December 2025 through February 2026, 55,976 tickets were submitted to Gopher State One Call (GSOC). That’s a lot of winter digging! And because of that, underground utility safety remains as important as ever—even if it looks a little different across the snowy Northstar State. Below are some helpful reminders and resources for this upcoming winter.
Contact Gopher State One Call, Minnesota’s 811
GSOC is available all year round for submitting locate requests, providing safe digging education, and answering 811-related questions.
Submitting Locate Requests
You can submit locate requests online 24/7, or via phone during call center hours. As a reminder, as of November 1, the GSOC Call Center hours shift to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. These hours will remain in place until March 31.
Visit the Ticketing section of our website for all things locate request related.
Safe Digging Education
In addition to in-person outreach and local collaborations, the GSOC website is filled with helpful information and resources, and you can access them any time!
Visit our Resource Center for downloadable guides and the official GSOC Handbook.
Get prepared for your next digging project with our Preparing for Excavation page.
You can also sign up for our email list by filling out the form fields on the GSOC homepage.
Questions About 811
If you have any questions about 811, please contact our Customer Support team at 651-681-7326 or [email protected]. We’re here to help!
Utility Markings in Snow
You might be wondering—how can I white line my excavation site if it’s covered in snow? Great question. If you’re a professional excavator, you can use Electronic White Lining in lieu of physical white marks if it provides the same level of information as a physical mark. If you’re a homeowner or would like to provide physical marks, you can use white flags (available at most home improvement stores) or black paint in snowy conditions.
Locators will mark the utilities atop whatever conditions are currently on the ground. This makes it vitally important to check positive response to see which utility companies have responded to your locate request. If the marks were made, but the visibility has changed due to snow melting, plowing, or any other reason, you’ll need to request an update to have the marks refreshed. You can do this using the link under “Excavator Responsibilities” in the emailed copy of your ticket.
No matter what time of year it is, it’s always good to ensure you’re familiar with the APWA Color Code and marking symbols. Click here to visit our What Do the Marks Mean? page.
Winter Locating
If you’re a utility locator, you know locating in the winter can be tough. According to Michael Jensen with City of Austin Utilities, locators typically see more emergency tickets in winter, more often than not from water main breaks. The general workload of a locator doesn’t taper off much during the offseason either, with street sign, mailbox, and power company pole replacements. Michael shares more about what it means to locate in MN during the winter in our Winter Locating 101 blog post.
Attend a Damage Prevention Meeting
At the end of winter and into spring, the GSOC team makes their way across the state for a series of Damage Prevention Meetings. These annual meetings are held by and for the excavation community all around the Minnesota. Focused on safe digging and best practice education, these meetings typically include presentations from Gopher State One Call and the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety (MNOPS), as well as guest speakers from other MN damage prevention stakeholders.
The 2027 meeting schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but keep an eye on the Minnesota Common Ground Alliance (MNCGA)’s calendar for the dates and how to register.
If you’d like to schedule a GSOC safety presentation at your organization outside of the annual damage prevention meetings, please reach out to Kelly Connolly at [email protected].