PG&E running new line - should I be worried?

[Ben in Norcal]

So, came home today to find little flags all over my yard and PG&E contractors crawling everywhere...apparently PG&E is upgrading the gas line in our area.  Most of the flags are right by the street, but they are also flagging through my yard to the meter on the house.  The underground line from the street to my meter (presumably a couple of feet down) runs under some of my most prized palms.  I'm not too worried about the easement - all agaves and cycads down there which should move easily enough.  But, I AM worried about what they will do from the street to my house.  Are they likely putting a new service line in, and if so, do they run it through existing conduit?  I'm petrified that they are going to trench straight through my yard and will end up killing many of my more prized palms.  Thoughts and advice appreciated please - of course, I have called PG&E today, and they know nothing of what is going on - despite the whole neighborhood being flagged and the flaggers saying the new main line will be run starting in February.

[Kim]

Yes, be worried.  Be aggressive, don't trust anyone.  You cannot assume these well-meaning workers understand plants, no matter what they say.  Be assertive, communicate, but take measures into your own hands to protect your plants.  Be on site when they are working whenever possible.

[Ben in Norcal]

6 minutes ago, Kim said:

Yes, be worried.  Be aggressive, don't trust anyone.  You cannot assume these well-meaning workers understand plants, no matter what they say.  Be assertive, communicate, but take measures into your own hands to protect your plants.  Be on site when they are working whenever possible.

Thanks Kim, I will for sure. Does anyone know if they run through existing conduit, or am I looking at having my whole yard trenched (probably a 50 foot distance between street and meter with at least 5 or 6 either large or important palms on this line)? I'm going to lose sleep over this!

[Pando]

Depends on what's being done. Gas line - they will dig up. Electrical - possibly conduit, but you never know. Flags are a sign that they may go digging.

Thing is, for most contractors, a palm tree is just a palm tree. They think that they can just get a replacement queen or something for you. Don't assume that they will have a clue.

Someone has to be in charge for this. Find our who the project manager is from the utilities. Get their engineering department. Get the contractor's supervisor's contact info any way you can. If they flagged up your yard without your knowledge, take pictures, remove the flags, and leave your cell number. They are on your property. This should raise someone's attention.

And most of all, document everything and TAKE PICTURES.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Pando

[Ben in Norcal]

3 minutes ago, Pando said:

Depends on what's being done. Gas line - they will dig up. Electrical - possibly conduit, but you never know. Flags are a sign that they may go digging.

Thing is, for most contractors, a palm tree is just a palm tree. They think that they can just get a replacement queen or something for you. Don't assume that they will have a clue.

Someone has to be in charge for this. Find our who the project manager is from the utilities. Get their engineering department. Get the contractor's supervisor's contact info any way you can. If they flagged up your yard without your knowledge, take pictures, remove the flags, and leave your cell number. They are on your property. This should raise someone's attention.

And most of all, document everything and TAKE PICTURES.

Ugh...it is definitely gas line they are replacing.

The one thing I can't get my head around is how they could dig up/trench EVERYONE's yard.  They can't dig up this line in my yard without taking out a lot of trees, and many of my favorites.  There are hundreds of houses, all marked from street to meter - can they seriously be re-trenching everyone's yard?

Double-ugh.

[Pando]

They can, and it's likely a huge project. They only thing workers know is who their supervisor is, so try to get that info.

You'll reach some bureaucratic road blocks (if they use outsourced customer service), but you should find a knowledgeable person. As a last resort, call their emergency notification line - they have info on all projects. Once you reach the project manager, ask to review the project plan and drawing for your property.

I would be very aggressive about this, and time is of the essence. Once they start rolling, there is not much you can do as every minute costs them money.

[enigma99]

Oh man... what a nightmare. I don't even know what to say :(

[Pando]

Also, the guys flagging things right now - they are doing markouts. They are visually identifying all service lines, including all utilities, ahead of the project, so when the digging starts, they can see where things are. With that in mind, they may not dig up your yard, but just have identified all the service lines in the vicinity.

The guys doing the markouts are usually different from the contractor(s) doing the actual work. It may be contracted out to a third party who has to meet deadlines. By the time the diggers show up, it's too late to wave your arms. You'll be like the guy in avatar in front of the dozer.

It's important that you reach the engineering department of the utility as soon as possible and review the plans as it relates to your property. There is always a project manager in charge for this. Sometimes it's as easy as calling up the utility and asking for engineering supervisor.

I hope this helps. I work for a utility so I'm somewhat familiar on how things work.

[WestCoastGal]

Sorry Ben. No fun ahead and I can understand your fears for your palms. I know when we were going to plant our palms on the side of our yard we called for marking the underground lines and it was a third party who came out to do the work. We also witnessed utility workers eventually ripping out 3 really nice palms from a shopping center we frequented at the time. Believe hubby even called PG&E when we first saw them marking the area to see if maybe they could be saved and transplanted, but no. No one seemed to care. They weren't rare palms but still nice specimens and we enjoyed seeing them in the landscaping there. We were wondering if maybe Sal could have taken them out for them and at least been able to resell. 

 

[Pando]

16 minutes ago, WestCoastGal said:

when we were going to plant our palms on the side of our yard we called for marking the underground lines

^ This is an excellent idea btw. I will do the same when I rework my front yard later this year.

For us in SoCal, there is a service for this: http://www.digalert.com   - or call 811.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Pando

[Ben in Norcal]

15 minutes ago, Pando said:

^ This is an excellent idea btw. I will do the same when I rework my front yard later this year.

For us in SoCal, there is a service for this: http://www.digalert.com   - or call 811.

Well I have them marked now...I just have to follow my line of plantings over the last 5 years!

[WestCoastGal]

Ben, now that your yard is marked, I would suggest taking photos of the utility markings in relationship to your yard, and photos of the gas line trench if you can get a few while they are doing it, just to have. Maybe even use a tape measure in the photo for a distance reference from a sidewalk or house perimeter, especially if you will be replanting in the area. I'm sure the gas line will go back in where it was. But it's also nice to know where the phone/cable and electricity were run too as they can deviate as ours did. Those other lines are generally laid within a certain depth range higher than the gas line. You can always call for a free marking of lines and should do so for safety sake, but for us it took a few days to set up an appointment, so not a last minute thing to do. If we ever have to remove any of our plantings in that area, it's nice to know that we have lines down there in that bed and need to set up an appointment again. I'm sure you probably know all this but for first time homeowners thought it worth mentioning.

I've kept the photos of the markings they did for us as a reminder. That little sideyard palm area we have has a gas line running through it to our BBQ island. When we put in our pavers we tried to keep as much of the line uncovered as we could in our walkway design should it need to be dug up down the road. Will mention that pavers in the area are much easier to remove than breaking up concrete. Our planting bed is pretty small and the palms there were planted at the end of the project. Had we thought about it a head of time we would have been more specific with our landscape contractors about the placement of it when they were trenching to the BBQ island. As is, it left us with a fairly narrow spot to plant at the end closest to the BBQ island. I would have loved to have placed our mule closer to the island than it is but no way could we accommodate the depth and width of the mule's box there once the line was in. Kind of how our sago ended up there instead! 

[DoomsDave]

Oh, dear.

My gas meter is right in the heart of my jungle.

Someday . . .

Ben, I'm watching this with GREAT interest!

[Ben in Norcal]

Stay tuned everyone.  Multiple lines in to PG&E currently, with no response as yet.

[enigma99]

maybe you can stand out in your yard when they come and refuse to move haha

[dalmatiansoap]

Not in the gas industry but its the same with electric. From here there are few solutions, first, to be agresive, might help but just to buy some time, second, find a foreman an ask if you can remove your meter to position closer to the street where it will make less damadge and in that case you will have to dig a trench thru your garden from meter to home but im sure you would pay more attention than they would.

There is nothing that cant be done

Edited January 15, 2016 by dalmatiansoap

[Ben in Norcal]

Latest update is that I spoke to someone reasonably helpful at PG&E, and they are hopeful they can dig a hole at the main (being replaced anyway, at the street), and dig a hole at my meter, and use a "mole" to run the new service line.  If that is possible, I may need to rip out a couple of small kings near the meter, but I can live with that.  Waiting for confirmation from the Field Engineer that this will be possible for my property - keep fingers crossed!

[Josh-O]

I'm pulling for you man!!!

Just read all the posts on this thread. sounds like a lot of stress and not a fun position to be in.

Did they say why they wanted to replace the gas lines?

old and outdated?

[Ben in Norcal]

9 hours ago, Josh-O said:

I'm pulling for you man!!!

Just read all the posts on this thread. sounds like a lot of stress and not a fun position to be in.

Did they say why they wanted to replace the gas lines?

old and outdated?

Yeah, I think this is part of their upgrade program after the big explosion in San Bruno a few years back.

[Pando]

Ben, do you have any updates how this turned out for you?

Edited February 26, 2016 by Pando

[Ben in Norcal]

20 minutes ago, Pando said:

Ben, do you have any updates how this turned out for you?

Not as yet.  Millions of little flags all over my yard still; no sign of any work and no contact from PG&E.

[Josh-O]

On 2/26/2016, 1:03:52, Ben in Norcal said:

Not as yet.  Millions of little flags all over my yard still; no sign of any work and no contact from PG&E.

Keep us posted bro