What is an excavation?
Iowa law defines excavation as meaning an operation in which a structure or earth, rock or other material in or on the ground is moved, removed, or compressed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment or explosives and includes, but is not limited to, grading, trenching, tiling, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, driving and demolition of structures. As described above, the law defines an excavation as much more than simply digging into the earth. Iowa One Call must be notified prior to any operation that may disturb or potentially disturb buried facilities. Excavators should not make any assumptions about the depth at which a facility may be buried. Identifying The Excavation Site When making notifications to the Iowa One Call center excavators must identify as accurately and specifically as possible the excavation site to be marked for locates. If there is an existing 911 address, that address must be used along with the
