Category: Industry Insights
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Supporting Children’s Minnesota at the 2025 Day of the Dozers
Join GSOC at the Day of the Dozers, benefitting Children’s Minnesota, on Sept. 20, 2025, in Elk River.
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Using Damage Prevention Data: Highlights from the 2020 DIRT Report
Underground utility damages have a significant impact on communities in Minnesota and beyond. According to the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), the estimated annual societal cost of damages to buried utilities in the United States is $30 billion, accounting for direct and indirect costs. Even near-misses can potentially cause scheduling issues and lost time on the…
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Locator Language: Decoding Utility Markings
Image Source: Flickr Keeping track of what’s exactly buried underground on a worksite can be a challenge, which is why utility locators follow the uniform color codes mandated by the American Public Works Association (APWA) for temporarily marking their facilities. The American Standards Institute (ANSI) established these colors as the American National Standard for Safety…
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CenturyLink Q&A provided to GSOC
Many excavators have been affected by CenturyLink Inc.’s transition to a new locating company to mark the location of CenturyLink underground facilities in Minnesota as of April 1, 2019. CenturyLink has provided Gopher State One Call with the following list of questions and answers from an excavator’s forum teleconference hosted by CenturyLink on May 6,…
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811 Hot Air Balloon
In 2017, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) partnered with Cox Utility Services to fund an 811 Hot Air Balloon to travel across the country during the busy excavating season to promote the underground utility damage prevention message to all potential excavators. The balloon kicked off its journey in Sacramento, California on April 1st, the first…
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Radon – An Underground Danger
Striking an underground pipeline or cable can result in an array of consequences, but did you know that there are non-excavation related underground dangers? One prime example is an odorless, colorless gas named “radon”. “Radon…forms naturally from the decay (breaking down) of radioactive elements, such as uranium, which are found in different amounts in soil…
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April Safe Digging Month – National Recap
Minnesota On April 7th, 2017, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a safe digging proclamation to help focus public attention on this issue. Mike Mendiola with the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety (MNOPS), a professional in the underground damage prevention industry, arranged the signing. The proclamation encourages everyone to contact Gopher State One Call (GSOC) at least 48…
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Celebrate NSDM this April!
April is an important month in the damage prevention industry. Since 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate has recognized April as National Safe Digging Month (NSDM), which makes 2017 the 10th anniversary of this significant acknowledgment. Throughout April, Gopher State One Call (GSOC), the Minnesota Regional Common Ground Alliance (MNCGA), and the…
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Celebrating 10 years of 811
In 2007, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), a member-driven association that promotes the safety of underground facilities, spearheaded the 811 National Awareness Campaign. 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of this important achievement for the underground damage prevention industry! When 811 became the universal three-digit dial code for America’s one call centers, it set the stage…