Indiana 811

More utilities than ever are buried underground these days, especially as new neighborhoods are built without a utility pole in sight. But what's good for aesthetic appeal isn't so good when it's time for someone to dig.

As a result, each state has at least one excavation notification center. With one phone call to 811 a contractor or homeowner can announce his or her intent to dig to utility companies in the area so they can mark their lines with paint or flags. It's a system that works well for everyone involved, except when not every utility company belongs to the service.

Indiana 811, the one-call excavation notification center for that state, came to MGH looking for ideas to help spur numerous underground utility owners (mostly towns, cities and counties) to become part of the system, a problem that had to be addressed before the spring digging season began.

MGH created a kit -an Indiana 811-branded shovel packed in a box with shredded paper serving as a bed of fake dirt - to get the attention of public works department heads, city managers and mayors. The shovel carried a tag that educated recipients that failure to belong to Indiana 811 may lead to fines and forfeit their ability to recoup repair costs from any excavator who damaged their lines. The shovel tag also included a link to an animated video that offered more compelling reasons to join Indiana 811.

Because of the outreach, Indiana 811 added 100 members, surpassing the 1,000 member mark for the first time. And most importantly, Indiana residents can now feel much more confident that all of the utilities are marked before they put a shovel in the ground.