Stump grinder - can it hit pipes etc?

[Squaredy]

I have a couple of tree surgeons coming to my house tomorrow to remove my lovely Apple Tree  and a few metres of Privet Hedge as they have helped to cause subsidence to my house   and I have had to make an insurance claim.  Should I warn them that there are water and gas pipes and electricity cables buried somewhere underneath the tree and hedge or will they automatically check before they fire up the stump grinder?

 

Bear in mind I have no way of knowing how far down the pipes and cables are, and hopefully they are too deep, but who knows....?

[Ty Korrigan]

These trees don't really require stump grinding at all!

 Just 20min with a decent sharp mattock.

   Stuart

  

[Steven P]

Whats the worst that can happen.....

 

This was caused a post hole borer in the US, hit a fairly major gas pipe....

 

Apart from the pic, yes, you have a duty of care I think to let the tree surgeon know if they are using digging in the area... but they should also do their own checks - not all owners / tenants know where their buried services are. The relevant utility companies should provide some sort of marking on top of the service for example a marker tape that will be seen above the service,  similarly if asked for they should also send a plan of known services (for a nominal fee. and you need to ask each, the electrical, the gas transmission companies (those that own the cables / pipes) plus the water company, fibre optics, BT and so on (the engineer might have got these plans when looking at the job).

 

Of course all these are 'should'... and the best way to find a hidden service is to get all the info you can, get a spotter watching where you dig and then go in with the JCB on ground that is safe.

 

Anyway, short answer for future reference, yes, give all the information that you can.

 

Pic:

 

[Ty Korrigan]

You would have thought there would have been an automatic shut off system triggered by either a drop in pressure or the sound of the word FAAAAAAKKKKK!

  Stuart

[eggsarascal]

On 18/08/2018 at 21:45, Steven P said:

Whats the worst that can happen.....

 

This was caused a post hole borer in the US, hit a fairly major gas pipe....

 

Apart from the pic, yes, you have a duty of care I think to let the tree surgeon know if they are using digging in the area... but they should also do their own checks - not all owners / tenants know where their buried services are. The relevant utility companies should provide some sort of marking on top of the service for example a marker tape that will be seen above the service,  similarly if asked for they should also send a plan of known services (for a nominal fee. and you need to ask each, the electrical, the gas transmission companies (those that own the cables / pipes) plus the water company, fibre optics, BT and so on (the engineer might have got these plans when looking at the job).

 

Of course all these are 'should'... and the best way to find a hidden service is to get all the info you can, get a spotter watching where you dig and then go in with the JCB on ground that is safe.

 

Anyway, short answer for future reference, yes, give all the information that you can.

 

Pic:

 

You can get plans from utility companies for a nominal fee, and there are marker posts for services. The problem is, the plans will have a disclaimer on them saying these drawings are approximate, dig test holes before using machinery. The utility companies only know where their own assets are, once you are in someone's garden you are on your own unless the homeowner knows where their supply comes into the property.

[Steven P]

1 hour ago, Ty Korrigan said:

You would have thought there would have been an automatic shut off system triggered by either a drop in pressure or the sound of the word FAAAAAAKKKKK!

  Stuart

And with this one, I am pretty sure he shouted that loud enough to be heard from space too. Should have heard that

 

 

Yes the plans should be available for all the utilities assets.. and the assets for electricity and gas companies extend under the garden and up to the meter, BT up to the master socket. Afterwards its the home owner. they don't know where other utilitie are. The disclaimer is there because 100+ years of say, buried electrical cables didn't always have GPS surveying, and installation to current standards. Always play it safe and assume there could be cables and pipes somewhere

[Khriss]

10 hours ago, Ty Korrigan said:

You would have thought there would have been an automatic shut off system triggered by either a drop in pressure or the sound of the word FAAAAAAKKKKK!

  Stuart

Actually it is the opposite, that pic is a High pressure pipe rupture, and basically the line senses a drop in pressure and starts ramming even more gas through the pipe- they never found the guy in that shot, it's used as a training pic for gas engineers and people who do cat scanning courses k

[Al Cormack]

And with this one, I am pretty sure he shouted that loud enough to be heard from space too. Should have heard that

I should think Space is probably where he ended up...

[eggsarascal]

21 hours ago, Steven P said:

And with this one, I am pretty sure he shouted that loud enough to be heard from space too. Should have heard that

 

 

Yes the plans should be available for all the utilities assets.. and the assets for electricity and gas companies extend under the garden and up to the meter, BT up to the master socket. Afterwards its the home owner. they don't know where other utilitie are. The disclaimer is there because 100+ years of say, buried electrical cables didn't always have GPS surveying, and installation to current standards. Always play it safe and assume there could be cables and pipes somewhere

This isn't strictly correct. I moved my LPG tank a few years back and got a mate to thrust bore a new main, l know where it's is but no one else does. There is no mains gas in our village and many houses have been bought and sold. I'd guess, and that's all it is that many folk in the countryside have no idea where their gas supply is, never mind where oil tank 'runs' are...... Please don't ask me about hitting someone's oil pipe!

 

I realise these aren't utility companies asssets, but they still need repairing at your/businesses cost.

Edited August 21, 2018 by eggsarascal

[woody paul]

16 minutes ago, eggsarascal said:

This isn't strictly correct. I moved my LPG tank a few years back and got a mate to thrust bore a new main, l know where it's is but no one else does. There is no mains gas in our village and many houses have been bought and sold. I'd guess, and that's all it is that many folk in the countryside have no idea where their gas supply is, never mind where oil tank 'runs' are...... Please don't ask me about hitting someone's oil pipe!

 

I realise these aren't utility companies asssets, but they still need repairing at your/businesses cost.

Hung a gate for a customer earlier this year and asked were drains/cables and pipes ran, they said down middle of drive so Ok ?, I looked at oil tank and there was no tap to turn it off god help anyone how hits pipe.