Ride 'em, utility locating technician
April 8, 2019
Every once in a while you meet someone, find out what they do for a living, and think, “Huh. I suppose SOMEONE has to do that …and I’m glad someone does!” Utility locating technicians get that a lot. Simply put, they’re the people who put those little flags in the ground so that gas, sewer, and all other manner of other underground utility lines don’t get broken during digging for activities like construction and road repair.
Utility locating is a highly specialized skill – so much so that pipeline companies and their personnel are required by federal law to meet once a year to learn about the latest changes in regulations, new technologies and lessons learned from previous pipeline incidents and issues. But when they get together, they also pit their locating skills against one another in a Locate Rodeo (that’s right, we said “rodeo”).
The Minnesota Locate Rodeo, for example, takes place this week at the Minnesota Office of Pipeline Safety’s annual conference. Pipeline operators, gas and liquids industry personnel, managers, trainers, technicians and damage prevention specialists meet to share ideas and learn best practices for the industry – but then they engage in a little friendly competition.
The Locate Rodeo is a fun opportunity for utility locating technicians to test their craft, knowledge and skills against those of their peers. It helps gain recognition for utility locating as a profession and demonstrates the knowledge, skills and ongoing educational efforts associated with the damage prevention profession.
So what does one do in a Locate Rodeo? Each competitor has 12 minutes to use their locating equipment to determine the location of an underground utility (much the way they do in real life), then record it in reference to a “locate wheel” (called such because it’s a circular area). They’re not allowed to see the locate wheel area (that is, the field of play) before their turn. Whoever’s measurement is most accurate wins, and there are first, second, and third place finishers.
Both the Locate Rodeo and the conference itself are part of the utility and pipeline industry’s efforts to make sure that Minnesota has safe and reliable energy transportation across the state. Yes, it may be an unusual job, but the fact that they do it helps keep your lights on, your stove running, and your family safe.
