Greater Chicago Damage Prevention Council Panel Discussion

GCDPC Excavator’s Breakfast

Preventing damage to underground utilities is a topic that will never grow old. Imagine that you possessed x-ray vision and looked under the parkway of any city or suburban street. You would see pipes and conduits containing gas, water, electricity, coaxial cable and fiber optic cable. These are things excavators want to avoid when installing new services. That was the topic of the panel discussion at the GCDPC Excavator Breakfast on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Electric Conduit Construction (ECC) was represented by Carl Oko Director of Business Development. In his past life Carl has had direct experience with excavations, directional drilling and every facet of underground construction. He understands the challenges of installing conduits, water lines and electrical services underground. He made several good points about the necessity for planning the work before executing the work. Planning includes white lining, exploratory pot holing and asking questions if indicators on the ground do not match up with locate marks. A questioning attitude and planning will make the project go much smoother.

ECC was honored to participate in the annual GCDPC Excavator’s Breakfast. We want to share our experiences and learn from the other professionals participating in this annual event. This year was notable for the City of Chicago’s Office of Underground Construction (OUC) celebrated 115 years of continuous operation and 50 years of the Chicago 811 notification system. The excavators attending this event are professionals who work hard to avoid damaging any utility. They work even harder to keep their employees safe while performing the work of bringing utility services to consumers in Chicago.

You can talk to Carl about damage prevention or your next project by calling 630-360-7903.