Governor Lombardo signed Senate Bill 27 into law on May 25, which changed the definition of excavation from the use of mechanical equipment to the use of mechanical equipment and non-mechanical equipment by a contractor, or any person other than a contractor digging more than 12 inches below the ground.
Effective July 1, contractors must have a dig ticket if they’re using mechanical equipment or hand tools. In other words, a contractor ALWAYS needs a dig ticket. A non-contractor (i.e., homeowner, boy scout planting a tree) also always needs a ticket if they’re digging with mechanical equipment, and they will also need one if they’re digging with hand tools more than 12 inches down.
SB 27 defines non-mechanical equipment, or hand tools, as “equipment operated solely by human power, including, without limitation, a hammer or other device used to drive stakes or rods into the ground, mattock, pickaxe, shovel or spade.”
USA North’s Pelican ticketing system uses Google maps for selecting excavation areas, which isn’t always up to date with new subdivisions. With access to GIS data, USA North will be able to add a layer over Google maps with Clark County GISMO data, including new parcels.
Scott Allen (holding the silver shovel) and his Las Vegas Paving cohorts pose with the Silver Shovel Award.
The competition was stiff! Mammoth Underground, Hirschi Companies, and Las Vegas Paving vied for the coveted Silver Shovel, with Las Vegas Paving coming out on top.
Each of the top three excavators were required to sit through an interview with the NRCGA’s Board of Directors. Board members scored the contestants’ responses and the excavator with the highest score won.
During the interviews, directors noticed the excavators had three business practices in common.
Tailgate Meetings – each held daily tailgate safety meetings to start the day.
Involvement at All Levels – each involved multiple levels of staffing to ensure 811 Call Before You Dig compliance, including office staff.
Communication – each company had a process to communicate from the field to the office and from the field to the utilities.
Thank you to our sponsors and guests for making our April 26 dinner and award ceremony our best ever! Our generous sponsors provided approximately 80 raffle prizes and the food was delicious!
Excavator Safety Training Excavator Safety TrainingThe NRCGA’s Excavator Safety Training Committee oversaw the training of 2,074 excavators and landscapers statewide. Training was provided in English and Spanish. https://nrcga.org/nrcga-damage-prevention-training/
811 Day at Cowabunga Bay On August 6, the NRCGA held sponsored 811 Day at Cowabunga Bay, a water park in Henderson. Cowabunga Bay offered a special ticket price of $24.99, with $5 from each ticket sold donated to the NRCGA for a total of $1,370. NRCGA members handed out thousands of pieces of 811 swag while talking to homeowners about the importance of calling 811 before digging. https://nrcga.org/811-day/
1st Annual NRCGA Golf Tournament The NRCGA raised $14,000 at its first annual fundraiser golf tournament at Siena Golf Course in Las Vegas on November 5. Due to the rising costs of goods and services, the NRCGA implemented this tournament to raise money to maintain outreach programs at their current level. https://nrcga.org/golf/
4th Annual Utility Locate Rodeo After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, the NRCGA held its 4th Annual Utility Locate Rodeo on Dec. 17 on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas. Each competitor competed in three divisions – telecommunications, power and gas. The winner of each division went on to compete in the Jackpot Locate to decide the overall competition winner. Sponsors provided $6200 in prize money for competitors. Each division winner took home $1240; the jackpot locate winner, Gregory Carreras, took home an extra $2480. https://nrcga.org/rodeo/ Division winners were:
Telecommunications Division: Gregory Carreras, City of North Las Vegas
NRCGA Chair Dennis Bott with Greg Carreras, the 2022 NRCGA Utility Locate Rodeo and Power Division winner.
Gas Division winner Terrance Steinline.
Telecommunication Division winner Vincent Griffin.
City of North Las Vegas line locator Greg Carreras is Nevada’s 2022 Locator of the year after winning at the NRCGA’s 4th Annual Utility Locate Rodeo on Saturday, Dec. 17.
The competition to most accurately locate power, gas and telecommunication lines took place at various locations on the UNLV campus. Every competitor was required to compete in each of the three divisions. Carreras won the power division and received a check for $1240.
Carreras went on to compete in the Jackpot Locate with the winners of the power and gas divisions. Terrance Steinline, a Stake Center locator, won the gas division and Vincent Griffin, a USIC locator, won the telecommunication division. Carreras came out on top and took the title of Locator of the Year and a prize purse of $2,480, which was in addition to the $1,240 each locator received for winning a division. All prize money was provided by the sponsors shown below.
In addition to the prize money for winning divisions and the Jackpot Locate, competitors walked away with full bellies from being treated to breakfast and lunch, as well as TVs, tools and gift cards donated by the NRCGA, Southwest Gas, Stake Center, USA North 811, Sal Caponigro, and Zayo.
Membership The NRCGA had 38 member companies in 2021. 32 were stakeholder members and 6 were associate members. 6 of the 38 newly joined the NRCGA in 2021. https://nrcga.org/about/members/
811 Day Skate Knight On August 11, the NRCGA held a free skate night, including 2-hours of skating and skate rentals, at the Lifeguard Arena in Henderson, where the Las Vegas Knights hockey team trains. The event included a school supply giveaway. Guests were given a free backpack, compliments of Southwest Gas, stuffed with 811 information and school supplies. The NRCGA partnered with Southwest Gas, R.P. Weddell & Sons Co, Flywheel, and USA North 811 to make the event possible. https://nrcga.org/811-day/
NRCGA Sponsorships in Northern Nevada The NRCGA provided the Douglas Dirtbags Baseball Club and Embrace Dance Company ballroom dance competition with $1500 each to promote 811. The promotion included banners hung at the baseball field and inside the ballroom.
Lone Mountain Excavation & Utilities Wins Silver Shovel Award The NRCGA held its annual Southern Nevada Excavator Appreciation Dinner and Silver Shovel Award Ceremony on Nov. 4 at the Golden Knight’s training facility, Lifeguard Arena, in Henderson. The Silver Shovel Award was presented to Lone Mountain Excavation & Utilities for the company’s stellar performance in damage prevention during the previous 12 months. Byrd Underground and Trenchless Evolutions were runner ups. All three companies had zero at-fault damages during the “look-back” period. https://nrcga.org/excavator-appreciation-events/
Best Practices Committee Committee members worked with USA North 811 to implement and create codes in preparation of electronic positive response becoming mandatory in Nevada, which is expected to happen in 2022. Once a contractor, excavator or homeowner places an 811 locate request to USA North 811, each utility must go online to communicate the status of the locate once it is completed. USA North 811 will then publish these responses online, allowing contractors, excavators, and homeowners the ability to check the status of responses to their ticket request online 24×7.
NUCA/NRCGA Damage Prevention Committee The NRCGA developed this partnership to meet with members of the National Utility Contractors Association of Las Vegas to discuss damage prevention in Nevada.
Carson City, Nev. – The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) pipeline safety division reports it has investigated several incidents this past year involving contractors who caused damage to natural gas pipelines because they did not call 811 to have the pipelines located prior to driving stakes into the ground.
Appropriate safety practices require that contractors installing landscaping, including concrete sidewalk-forming stakes, call 811 at least two days before performing work so natural gas pipelines can be located and marked to avoid damage. Not calling 811 and blindly driving in stakes places workers and the general public at risk.
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), specifically 49 CFR 192.361(a), requires natural gas service pipelines to be buried to a depth of at least 12 inches on private property, which includes residential and commercial properties. Although gas utilities often bury natural gas pipelines deeper, safety regulations only require 12 inches. Additionally, property owners often change the final grade of property after natural gas pipelines are installed, thereby changing the depth of the pipelines from the original installation.
When natural gas pipelines have been damaged and natural gas is escaping, the following steps are the most important to take, according to PUCN Senior Gas Pipeline Engineer Neil Pascual: “Immediately cease work, evacuate the impacted area to minimize the hazard presented by the damaged pipeline, telephone emergency 911 services from a safe area, and contact the utility operator.”
Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 455.140 and Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 455.160 require excavators to follow the steps outlined above and not attempt to operate any valve or other device owned by a utility.
Any entity failing to adhere to the laws outlined in NRS 455.140 can be subject to civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day per violation, up to a maximum of $250,000 for a given calendar year. The PUCN issued more than 25 civil penalties to excavators and operators in 2019 for violations associated with NRS Chapter 455 totaling more than $100,000. Additionally, excavators could face utility repair and damage costs that may range from a few thousand dollars to millions of dollars if the damage were to result in a significant incident.
811 – Call Before You Dig
The PUCN reminds businesses and residents that before starting any digging project, no matter how large or small, a call should be placed to the statewide 811 hotline (“Call Before You Dig” program). Professional locators are dispatched, usually within two working days, to the requested dig site to mark the approximate locations of underground lines. Utility lines need to be properly marked because even when digging only a few inches, the risk of striking an underground utility line still exists.
Derek Reeve (Center), from Future Infrastructure Services, accepts the Silver Shovel Award.
The NRCGA’s top excavator award, the Silver Shovel, was presented to Future Infrastructure Services at the NRCGA’s Annual Excavator Appreciation Dinner on Nov. 7 at the Eastside Cannery Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Each year the NRCGA presents the Silver Shovel award at the annual dinner to a Southern Nevada excavator who has had no at-fault damages during the 12 months between August of the current year to August of the previous year.
All eligible excavators that meet the no at-fault damages criteria are invited to participate in an 8-question, in-person interview with the NRCGA’s Board of Directors. The Board of Directors score the excavator’s response. The excavator with the highest score is kept under wraps until the night of the annual dinner.
Winning the Silver Shovel comes with perks. In addition to a life-size silver shovel to display in the excavator’s office, the NRCGA will also sponsor travel for one Future Infrastructure Services representative to attend the Common Ground Alliance’s Annual Conference in March 2020 in Palm Springs.
The CGA’s 2020 conference will include a
presentation by NRCGA Vice-Chair Dennis Bott on the annual Excavator
Appreciation Dinner. It’s a conference not to be missed by anyone in the
excavation business!
About Future Infrastructure Services:
Future Infrastructure Services is an industry-leading provider of telecommunications, energy, and intelligent transportation services. Founded in Mesquite, Tex., in 1999, Future Infrastructure Services has diligently worked to provide the Southwestern United States with the highest quality construction, delivered in a professional manner.
Our Southwest Division, with offices in Las Vegas and Phoenix,
has provided horizontal directional drilling and open cut services for the
installation of telecommunications, water, sewer, electrical, and gas
facilities in some of the most densely congested utility corridors in the
country.
We pride ourselves in providing a safe
environment for our employees, which leads to an efficient job for our
customers. Our forward thinking safety philosophy enables us to grow to meet
our customers’ needs while maintaining a safe working environment. Future Infrastructure
Services believes that the success of our projects,
customers, and company depends on the success of our safety program.
We strive to make Future Infrastructure Services a place where
our employees excel. We are passionate about our people growing with the
company and we provide them the tools and training to further their success.
Our philosophy is simple: The key to success in our business is
customer satisfaction. Our diverse experience, professional project delivery,
and commitment to customer service have solidified our reputation and allow us
to remain the first choice for utility construction. We strive to make working
for, and with, Future Infrastructure Services an exceptional experience.
On August 11, 2019, the NRCGA, in partnership with Cowabunga Bay waterpark in Las Vegas, hosted an 811 Day community event packed with 2,903 guests. Twenty-seven percent of those guests pre-purchased tickets online using a special 811 promotion code and paid only $8.11 per ticket!
The guests thoroughly enjoyed all the free 811 swag donated by the NRCGA and sponsors, including Southwest Gas, ELM, USIC, NV Energy, USA North 811, and RP Weddell. Guests who provided proof of purchasing the tickets with the 811 day promo code received a free beach towel. Additional swag included sun glasses, sun screen, pop sockets, and cooling bandanas. Volunteers from each sponsor signed up to hand out swag and educate the guests about 811 and safe digging.
DJ Pharaoh was live on the mic at the event, playing popular songs and mixes that had people in the nearby wave pool dancing. He played commercial spots from Southwest Gas promoting the “call before you dig” message and gave away over $1,000 in gift cards donated by the NRCGA. In order to win a gift card, each recipient had to answer a question correctly about 811 over the microphone.
Everyone in attendance had a great time and a lot of people left educated about 811 and the call before you dig message!
Volunteers in blue shirts and competitors in yellow pose pre-competition.
Cornhole champion Jeremy Crawford.
Rodeo champion Kevin Nutt, Left, and the NRCGA’s Craig Rogers, right.
Judge Colin Miyadi completes his checklist while Robert Atencio looks on.
Tom Fava III listens to judge Colin Miyadi.
Kevin Nutt, a locator with Western States Contracting, is Nevada’s top utility locator after winning the NRCGA’s 3rd Annual Utility Locate Rodeo on Saturday, April 27.
Kevin competed for the first time in this year’s Rodeo, though he’s known of it for the past two years. “It was stressful, but great,” Kevin said of the competition. “I had a lot of fun.”
Kevin not only won the overall tournament; he also won the power and communication divisions. Kevin took home prize money for both divisions, as well as the cash prize for winning the Jackpot Locate.
New this year, Rodeo participants competed in locating in all three divisions – gas, electric and communications – at different competition sites on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. During the previous two years, competitors competed in the one division of their choosing.
Division winners are determined based on a performing a locating skill test within a 12-minute timeframe. The locator with the best score within each division goes on to compete in the Jackpot Locate, which entails performing locates within a 3-minute timeframe.
As in previous years, competitors in this year’s Rodeo selected their division of preference, which for Kevin was power. And also as in previous years, the winner of each division went on to compete in the Jackpot Locate. With Kevin taking the top spot in both the power and communication divisions, he ultimately represented the power division in the Jackpot Locate. The 2nd place winner in the communication division was Robert Atencio, a locator with ELM, who also took first place in the gas division. Since Kevin and Robert were already guaranteed spots in the Jackpot Locate competition, the 3rd spot in the Jackpot Locate went to Tom Fava III, also a locator with ELM, who placed 3rd in the communication division.
In addition to prize money, Kevin also receives NRCGA-sponsored travel to Springfield, Missouri, to participate in the 2019 International Utility Locate Rodeo in December. According to Kevin, he plans to compete in the NRCGA’s 2020 4th annual Rodeo. “Hard work pays off,” Kevin said.
Also new this year, the NRCGA implemented a cornhole competition at each division competition site. Competitors, spectators and Rodeo volunteers were invited to compete. The top two scorers overall went on to compete for the bragging rights of being named Cornhole Champion – and also the right to pick any prize from among the door prizes provided by rodeo sponsors. Jeremy Crawford, a locator with Kern River Gas Transmission, is Cornhole Champion and he chose a 52” flat screen TV.
Without our sponsors, the rodeo would not be possible. Sponsors not only provide the cash prizes won by division and Jackpot Locate winners, but they provide the great door prizes (TVs, smart watches, tools, etc.) raffled during the award ceremony as the close of the Rodeo. A million thanks to all the companies listed below!
The NRCGA held its annual Southern Nevada excavator appreciation dinner Nov. 8 at the Eastside Cannery Hotel and Casino and honored two local excavating contractors for taking the extra step towards digging safely.
The NRCGA’s top honor – the Silver Shovel – was awarded to Tab Contractors. Winning the Silver Shovel includes one complimentary trip to Florida to attend the Common Ground Alliance’s March 2019 annual conference and NRCGA membership.
Frehner Masonry took second place and received the NRCGA’s Outstanding Performance Award for their strides in damage prevention.
A total of four excavators were in the running for the Silver Shovel and Outstanding Performance awards. The NRCGA selected candidates based on the number of dig tickets called in to USA North 811 between May 2017 and May 2018 and no at-fault damages during the same time period.
Attendance exceeded 90 hungry excavators eager to see which one of their peers was to receive the coveted Silver Shovel.
Several stakeholders spoke at this event on topics such as utilizing online ticket requests through USA North 811’s website, as well as excavating safely around buried fuel lines.
Vendors were on hand to give away various swag items as well.
NRCGA Chair Bob Ward addresses the crowd.
Tab Contractors’ John Fornfeist accepts the Silver Shovel Award.
