Backhoe Cuts Gas-Phone-Cable TV Lines Saturday
March 10th, 2009 by Joe Burgess
Repair crews are seen working Saturday on the damaged underground phone, cable TV, and natural gas supply lines
Saturday morning, around 11 o’clock, normal activities of cooking lunch, while watching TV, and talking on the telephone to friends came to a quick stop for many Monticello residents.
That is approximately the time that a Robin Hood Drive resident had a backhoe operator reportedly working on replacing a sewer line, in the residence’s back yard.
As the backhoe operator was digging across the yard, the bucket of the machine cut into an underground cable TV line, a 100 pair telephone carrier, and a 2 inch natural gas supply line. The driver of the machine, who had rented the tractor from a friend, stopped digging, as neighbors called the authorities, and the utilities began to arrive to survey the damage, and begin repairs.
Arkansas has a One-Call-System, which it appears had not been notified of the weekend repair project. The One Call System will mark underground wires and lines, before any digging is to be performed.   This could have prevented all of the trouble and inconvenience that took place, simply by making a free phone call.Â
Click here to learn more about the Arkansas One Call system.
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no call was made to arkansas one call