Diggers Hotline does not have information on the specific location or depth of buried facilities. Sometimes, callers ask Diggers Hotline operators how deep lines are buried under the work site. These callers are often disappointed when the operator cannot offer depth information.

In fact, the facility owners themselves generally will not provide depth information to the caller. While it is true that most facility owners follow certain depth requirements or guidelines when installing lines, they have no control over depth variation caused by human intervention, weather, or other circumstances.

For example, a facility is buried three feet below the surface in a given area. Following installation, a landscaper adds one foot to the top soil. In this case, the facility is now four feet deep. Conversely, if the landscaper were to remove one foot of dirt, that facility would only be two feet below the surface.

In addition to human intervention, the effects of weather (i.e., erosion, changes in the frost line, etc.) can effect the depth of underground facilities. Therefore, Diggers Hotline (as well as most facility owners) will not provide depth information to the caller.

The use of electronic devices to determine facility depth is inherently unreliable and cannot be used in place of hand digging to determine true facility depth.