Technology in the Trenches (12/1/2025)
Tools Changing the Future of Damage Prevention
Casey Thames – Pipeline Operator’s View
For most operators, these technologies are still more concept than standard practice. Predictive analytics platforms exist, and a handful of forward-leaning companies are feeding them ticket data, damage history, weather layers, and workload cycles to forecast hot spots. Where these systems are actually turned on and trusted, the results are impossible to ignore; damage rates in those corridors drop noticeably, sometimes by double-digit percentages in a single year. The capability is there; adoption is still uneven.
One of the clearest examples of this shift is the Texas811 Risk Assessment (RBT) service, which is quickly becoming the backbone of risk-based locating in Texas. Instead of treating every ticket with the same priority, RBT assigns a predictive risk score built on excavation type, historical damages, repeat-offender behavior, ticket anomalies, and utility congestion. According to Texas811, operators applying predictive analytics to 811 notifications have seen up to a 50% reduction in damages when combined with intervention programs, a number that is hard to ignore.
For operators managing hundreds of weekly tickets, this transforms the workflow. RBT data layers directly into GIS and dispatch systems, revealing clusters of high-risk activity before boots hit the ground. High-ranking tickets automatically rise to the top of the queue, ensuring that limited locator or inspector bandwidth is deployed where the exposure is real, not where it is assumed. When paired with internal AOC records, past leak data, congested corridors, aging infrastructure, CP trends, or known problem contractors, RBT becomes an actual predictive model, not just a filter.
The same evolution is happening with centimeter-accurate GPS locating and electronic white lining. In certain basins and on specific capital projects, the workflow is seamless: contractors submit a precise digital polygon, operators overlay as-builts, and marks go down exactly where they belong. In other regions, we are still drawing shapes on paper plats or describing dig sites over the phone. The contrast is stark. When both sides commit to a shared digital process, accurate GPS marks, precise white lining, and RBT-driven risk layers, friction disappears and mis-locates plummet.
The improvements are sharp enough that even the traditional holdouts are beginning to ask for budget to catch up. When combined, these tools don’t just make the work cleaner, they change how operators decide what work needs to be done first, which is the real game-changer.
Daniel Radabaugh – Contractor’s View
Predictive analytics give digging crews something we have never had before: advance warning. A simple overlay that flags corridors with recent damage history, high ticket volume, or complex utility congestion allows foremen to plan with intent. With that information before mobilization, a crew can bring vacuum excavation, plan extra caution in certain segments, or schedule a pre-job meeting with the locator. Even a basic risk layer prevents the kind of surprises that turn a routine day into an emergency response.
High-precision GPS is also becoming standard in locate packages. When marks are tied to real-world coordinates accurate to an inch or two, operators and excavators see the same truth. Crews with machine control equipment can load the digital file and see tolerance zones on the screen. Crews without machine control still benefit because the painted marks precisely match the digital record. Either way, guesswork disappears and the tolerance zone becomes a line, not a suggestion.
Electronic white lining has become the single biggest time-saver in the ticket process. Drawing a dig area on an aerial image takes seconds instead of minutes on the phone. When utility owners respond to that same digital footprint, the locate marks that appear in the field line up exactly with what the excavator submitted. The result is fewer re-marks, fewer emergency tickets, and far less waiting around for refreshes.
Why it Matters Now
The industry has committed to cutting damages 50 percent in five years. We will not hit that mark with better paint and bigger flags alone. The tools exist today to make every locate more accurate, every ticket clearer, and every risk visible before iron hits the dirt. They are no longer prototypes—they are proven, affordable, and spreading quickly.
Closing Thoughts
Technology does not replace experience, vigilance, or relationships. It removes excuses. When the map is precise, the risk is known, and the plan is shared, there is no reason for a line strike 99 percent of the time.
As we move through this busy season and into a new year, we should treat these tools the way we treat seat belts or hard hats: standard equipment, required every day, with no exceptions. The crews deserve it, the public expects it, and the numbers already prove it works.
We are still in the same trench. The smarter the tools we bring into it, the safer we all come out.
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Casey Thames – Board of Directors – Damage Prevention Council – caseythames@gmail.com