Went through a gas pipe today

[Welderpaul]

Years ago when i was digging up the concrete path at home to block pave it I went through the electric cable where it comes up to the meter. Whoever had installed it had cut back the hockey stick duct where it entered the house so the cable was just sat on the sharp corner or the brick, cast in the concrete and with no warning tape. Bang. Didn't pay for that repair.

Dropping some kerbs to extend a drive crossing for a mate, on a Sunday, no licence off the council, 20 years ago..you can see where this is going..

Put three holes in the crown of a 25mm gas pipe - at the time when it was British Gas, one man came to look, another to check this, road full of gas vans..
Shrunk a sleeve on it and was done in an hour. They sent a bill but I claimed the pipe was not deep enough, no warning, and not on service drawings. Didn't end up paying.

Squeeze offs are a good idea for water. Don't ever squeeze off gas unless your sure its a service and only feeds one property though.
If you cut the gas, every property affected needs to be visited to purge, check pressure and relight pilots as its turned on. Big money - just wrap some denso round it and call out the boys.

 

[Stingray]

Used to work at a firm that had premises on a corner road of an industrial estate. They drew plans for a extension to the building. All drawings and utility plans for the estate showed the pipes went along the road, but no, when the digger went through a 12" main gas pipe they found that the pipe had cut the corner by about 50 ft!

You're lucky Stingray, a guy killed hiself down here in Southend a couple of years ago by hitting a main cable with a crowbar when digging a post hole.

I know I think if the ground was wet and it didn’t arc between live and earth sheathing I’d be dead, scary thing was five year old granddaughter was beside Me...

 

[Parm]

Used to work at a firm that had premises on a corner road of an industrial estate. They drew plans for a extension to the building. All drawings and utility plans for the estate showed the pipes went along the road, but no, when the digger went through a 12" main gas pipe they found that the pipe had cut the corner by about 50 ft!

You're lucky Stingray, a guy killed hiself down here in Southend a couple of years ago by hitting a main cable with a crowbar when digging a post hole.

Got one on at the moment. Chap was using a searcher bar in some soft ground. Went through a big cable.

 

[8ob]

Squeeze offs are a good idea for water. Don't ever squeeze off gas unless your sure its a service and only feeds one property though.
If you cut the gas, every property affected needs to be visited to purge, check pressure and relight pilots as its turned on. Big money - just wrap some denso round it and call out the boys.

We dont do hole in the road stuff Paul, its always on private land so a very slim chance of cutting others off. As a temporary we keep a selection of these https://cityirrigation.co.uk/acatal...MI2JqU6IO43gIVSpztCh1MNgzDEAQYASABEgJzAPD_BwE Gas/water board have always been grateful of the squeezeoff or patch when our lads have ripped out/damaged a main.

Bob

 

[Wightsparks]

I just had a track entrance levelled to make a parking spot a few weeks ago. The big steel water pipe that was supposed to run alongside the track had slipped - fortunately spotted by the digger driver - but now I have 2/3 parking space with a big steel pipe across it and not a clue what to do with it.
I'll do a thread as I need to help and suggestions on this one! Needs to be done soon as it is exposed.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I bought a new semi bungalow in 1976. Attached neighbour was aerating the front lawn with a normal garden fork when they punctured the main water feed to their home. Fountain on front lawn Pipe was just below level of the turf !

 

[Robotstar5]

A factory I was at a few years ago had contractors cut the main electric supply to the factory with a JCB, they had to pay for a couple of container sized generators and a big bill from MEB to repair. As the works engineer was "paid for" the same contractors were back on site a few weeks later cutting into a Tarmac path with a Stihlsaw and I made the comment "looks like they've bought themselves a cable detector"

 

[Muppet]

I've done a few new builds and the spec for install on domestic is min 600 deep from sub soil , 250 mm betweeen utilities,

 

[CompoSimmonite]

OT. Mate wanted phone line reinstalled on his very remote farm in France. Engineer came out and said "where are the rest of the poles ? " Turned out the neighbour (Parisian holiday home) had chopped them all down that ran across his land - probably 5 or 6 poles together with phone wire. Wonder what the bill for for that to be sorted ?

 

[Westfield-builder]

A next door in my last house come tuning round any chance you can have a look at our lighting circuit we had no lights for 2 days

Any how spent an hour taking off all the roses and checking behind light switches all fine so I said you done any diy etc in the last few days only putting up a few nails for pictures ok where in the hallway turned out he had put a nail directly in line with a light switch I pulled the nail out and said next time you do the diy instead of him with a smile

I hope you exposed the cable and made sure it was not damaged, leaving a pierced cable could lead to a fire or harm if a conductor was broken, causing arcing when live.

 

[slimjim]

My brother did this putting a fence up in a friends garden, gas board paid for the repair, as the pipe was above the level it should have been.

 

[angellonewolf]

that's what my wife does bought me a poxy saw that takes obscure blades when I have 6 hacksaws and 80 hss blades a crappy laser level mostly plastic when i have a one that cost a few hundred quid ohh nearly forgot a black and decker power tape chucked it in with other crap gear in garage

I hope you exposed the cable and made sure it was not damaged, leaving a pierced cable could lead to a fire or harm if a conductor was broken, causing arcing when live.

said to them it needs looking at they said we got someone for that

 

[carbon]

Was sent this picture by a friend who digs up roads, paths etc to find breaks in cables. They ususally use a petrol saw to cut all the way through the tarmac but on this occasion they didn’t bother and were glad that they didn’t after finding a gas main near the surface

 

[Wightsparks]

But what's really worrying about that pic is the cig lighter !

 

[mike os]

Everyone does it sooner or later....

Unfortunately it makes no difference how deep it is you are still liable... ******** I know but that's the way it is.

Last electric cable I caught was laid under a 50mm thick concrete slab that formed a path round the house, came up with a section of concrete but we still got billed.

 

[bricol]

Building site on outskirts of town - permission said no working weekends or Bank Holidays. So Good Friday morning early this year, they go through a gas main . . . one the gas people had told them was there the week before . . . 3500 people cut off . . . took three days for most of the town to be back on. Whole place was full of white vans from all over the country. Don't think anyone had a bad word to say about any of the people working to reconnect us all. Lots of them saying they'd never worked in such a place where everyone was pleasant, grateful etc. Northern GAs Networks were rather good in mobilsing everything, sorting heaters, hot plates, food wagons, facilities in local hotels for showers etc.

I think so of the more local ones even came back to join the gala parade in the summer to a rousing cheer ;-)

Builders who did it . . . hmm . . heard nothing . . . (when they finish, it's going to be fun, as they, and the planning dept seem to have ignored everyone who protested the plans, pointing out the houses were going to be built on Lake Silsden which comes and goes every winter . . .river floods, and it covers most of the fields. Even a few days heavy rain causes it to appear).

 

[addjunkie]

Is this not what diving rods and cat scanners are for. I borrowed a metal detector a few weeks ago to find the phone cable in my back field, before I dig the new water supply in. If I hit anything else, its my problem, but power is overhead.

 

[Cuthy246]

Was doing a site investigation to locate services and determine soil properties on a banked hill to allow construction of a new cycle path. First pit find tape at about 1.3m no sign of sand dig down to about 2m nothing. Start 2nd pit no tape or sand down to 1.9m then scratching. Stop the digger operator, bucket lifted, red cable sheathing ripped open armour cables exposed. Engineers drawings hadn't shown size of cable, turns out it was 33kV. Emergency number called. New section of cable put in by SSE over next 2 days. £35k bill. Luckily didn't go through cable as would have killed myself, the operator and possibly the surveyor on site as well.

 

[Cuthy246]

Is this not what diving rods and cat scanners are for. I borrowed a metal detector a few weeks ago to find the phone cable in my back field, before I dig the new water supply in. If I hit anything else, its my problem, but power is overhead.

CAT scans are good for electric and phone cables. Useless for gas, water and fibre optic unless a trace cable installed along them.

 

[cheb]

I found my black plastic mains water pipe with a pick axe. Just under the turf and on top of bedrock. Dug around further and found what looked to be a fittings selection display had been plumbed in. 1", 1.25", 25mm, 32mm joints and several blanked tees. I was trying to find the outside stopcock at the time.