Tuesday, August 11 is National 811 Day. Always call 811 or visit Gopher State One Call’s website before digging. It’s the law. Utility lines may be just inches below the surface, and hitting one could cause outages, damage or even an explosion.
To dig safely and legally in Minnesota, you need to do three things:
- Call 811 at least two business days before you dig.
- Mark your yard (in white) so the locator knows where you’re digging and can mark the utilities in your yard appropriately.
- Respect the locate marks and hand-dig carefully around them.
Utility locators follow the uniform color codes mandated by the American Public Works Association (APWA) for locate marks.
- White: proposed construction
- Orange: telephone & cable TV
- Yellow: gas, oil, steam
- Red: electric
- Green: sewers & drain lines
- Blue: water
- Pink: temporary survey markings
- Purple: reclaimed water.
