In this week’s Damage Prevention Download, we highlight key findings from CGA’s 2021 DIRT Report, which was published today. To read the full Report and use the DIRT Interactive Dashboard, visit https://dirt.commongroundalliance.com/.

The annual DIRT Report is the only comprehensive accounting and analysis of damages to buried utilities in the U.S. and Canada, and its valuable insights are an industry resource for targeting damage prevention outreach and programs.

Persistent Damage Root Causes

The 2021 DIRT Report once again points to a handful of key damage root causes that contribute to 76% of all damages. Many of the Report’s recommendations to the industry are focused on targeting the recurrent damage root causes which are driving the vast majority of documented damages.

Trend Analysis

The 2021 DIRT Report contextualized the data utilizing different models as part of a three-year trend analysis (2019-2021), which points to an overall plateau or slight increase in damages since 2019. At a time of increasing excavation activity and greater infrastructure funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the Report underscores the importance of addressing the ongoing causes of damages to critical facilities to drive these damage numbers down. Importantly, damage root causes have also been remarkably consistent over this period of time, so addressing these challenges would significantly reduce instances of damages and near misses.

Spotlight on Natural Gas and Telecommunications

An analysis of telecommunications (including cable TV) damages as compared to natural gas damages reveals that when these facility owners/operators excavate, they contribute to damaging their own/industry specific assets – with telecommunications causing damage to their own industry facilities about twice as often as natural gas. Several additional insights about these facility owner/operators can be found in a dedicated section of the 2021 DIRT Report.

Important Reflections

The 2021 Report includes an entire category of recommendations for improving the effectiveness of data across damage prevention, and a special section of the Report is dedicated to sharing the case studies of three DIRT-submitting organizations with high Data Quality Indexes (DQI) which provide instructive examples for how stakeholders can improve the value of their DIRT submissions. All damage prevention stakeholders have an opportunity for self-reflection with regard to data collection and analysis practices through a set of guided questions found on page 8 of the 2021 DIRT Report.

Thank You to the Data Committee and All DIRT Submitters

CGA thanks the Data Reporting and Evaluation Committee for their diligent contribution to preparing the important analysis and thoughtful recommendations included in this report. Without the valuable time and information provided by our members and committees, CGA would not be able to produce our annual DIRT Report and recommendations.

In addition to the key takeaways in the 2021 DIRT Report, be sure to visit the DIRT Interactive Dashboard to explore the data that is most relevant to your organization or stakeholder group.