# something you might want to read



## dayexco (Oct 12, 2009)

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/83313777.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

was in minneapolis star tribune this morning


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

gas line directional bored through a sewer?


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

"Danger quickly spread throughout the neighborhood because the gas traveled through sewer systems to other houses, leading to evacuations. Utility workers shut off gas to 15 houses and electricity to 60, said Xcel Energy spokeswoman Patti Nystuen."

If everyone had properly vented systems I don't see why it's so dangerous. The NG would just rise out of the stacks on the roof like it normally does.


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## TheMaster (Jun 12, 2009)

I replaced a sewer about 2 years ago in an old part of the city. About 3 months later the guy calls me up and says his toilets are backing up in all the bathtubs. I replaced all the pipe under the house and to the citys lateral so I knew it was gonna be a city problem. I go out to take the cleanout plug out at the street and notice "fresh holes" dug on each end of the property. i asked if any work had been done in the past few days and he readily offered up "It sure has" he said that the gas co had replaced the gas lines on the street. They bored a hole through my pvc with those big horizontal drilling rigs. If I had ran a cable in that drain that could have cut a high pressure 1.5" gas main.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

One I just ran across that was hit with a directional drill. Did not go all they way thru the pipe. Just dented the side in and they stopped, but left the pipe that way.


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## 1703 (Jul 21, 2009)

They don't call it "poke and hope" for nuttin'.


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

That's why I say dig a big hole then you know. Seems if someone were ever thinking they would bring each utility at different elevations, to avoid these problems, but talk about a pipe dream. Guy I work with hit a fiber-optics line that had been bored through sanitary line. The city allowed local school to use some storm lines as conduit for the new fiber-optics, unfortunate they bored over to sanitary.


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## BlocksAway (Mar 3, 2010)

*Happens here in UK too*



Colgar said:


> gas line directional bored through a sewer?


Look here!!

Gas pipes in the UK are yellow. The home owner wondered why his drains blocked every few months!!

http://www.blocksaway.co.uk/cctv_inspection_gas_pipe.html


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

I've had that happen at my own house in '94 and I've had customers with that problem twice. 

I've run across five or six power lines bored through sewer lines in the past four years.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Protech said:


> If everyone had properly vented systems I don't see why it's so dangerous. The NG would just rise out of the stacks on the roof like it normally does.


Too many "what ifs",like a toilet wax seal leaking, cracked piping or venting, evaporated traps in basement floor drains. Lots of other variables to consider. 

If all the plumbing was perfect, we'd not be needed the way we are.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Protech said:


> "Danger quickly spread throughout the neighborhood because the gas traveled through sewer systems to other houses, leading to evacuations. Utility workers shut off gas to 15 houses and electricity to 60, said Xcel Energy spokeswoman Patti Nystuen."
> 
> If everyone had properly vented systems I don't see why it's so dangerous. The NG would just rise out of the stacks on the roof like it normally does.


 


Dry trap on a randomly used fixture

Dry trap near the furnace due to evaporation


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> Dry trap near the furnace due to evaporation


My dad's house in Colorado has a floor drain near the water heater and about 3' from the furnace. There's a condensate line that drains into it but if it were to go dry in this type of situation, it could be disastrous.








Paul


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## SummPlumb (Feb 19, 2010)

I replaced a sewer service today that had been hit by the gas company years ago. The gas company repaired it with some sheet metal and a bag of quickrete. I caught it on my seesnake.

Of course the gas line (plastic) was right on top of it the whole way. At the street, the sewer was under one 40 pair and a 400 pair telephone main. Needless to say, it was a very long day.

Five years ago I was trying to unstop a clubhouse for a big apt complex here, i kept hitting something that my Spartan 300 could not go thru. I backed out and put the camera in to see what it was. It was a large telephone service wire. At first it looked like a power cable. I almost went home for the day scared of what could have happened to me.

Does anyone here use that safety pipe thingy that comes with your sewer machine?


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I had one where I diagnosed the clog as a problem with the city sewer. I didn't get another job real quick and the city jetting crew showed up. I watched them get hopelessly stuck in the line about 15' out from the manhole right where the power company had just put in a brand new telephone pole...

I guess the utilities must be exempt from call before you dig...:laughing:


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