How deep are utilities required to bury wires? (Austin, Howe: landscaping, law)

[eileenkeeney]

How deep are utilities required to bury their pipes and wires?

I found a white pvc pipe buried in my yard, it is maybe a 4" diameter pipe, and it comes in from the neighbor's yard, and ends in my yard, and has a cap on the end.
It was only a few inches deep, and then forced to bend so it could remain a few inches deep where my yard sloped.

My friend says I need to call the place people call before they dig.
But I am only digging a few inches, to level an area. I am going no deeper than one would go for a garden.
Should anything belonging to the utilities be this shallow, in my ground?
Or is it safe to just cut it off?

I really don't want to make my level area as high as this pipe is, as that means bringing in more dirt (or rock). I was hoping I could just move dirt from the high end of my yard to the lower end of the area I want level.
But if I am limited by this shallow pipe, I have to make my area at least that high.

I would ask my neighbor, but they don't speak any English. We have communicated a few times (barely).
Mostly we just say Hi to each other.

[centralaustinite]

Call!!

It is the safe thing to do and it is the law. In many places in Austin, the top soil is only 1-2 inches thick. I would not expect utilities to be buried very deeply.

Home Page | Texas 811

[iamwayne]

average 24 inches and minimum below the frost line. call and have them mark it.

[BJB817]

It sounds like it's probably a cleanout of some sort. I'd have a plumber look at it if you want to try to bury it deeper.

I've done a fair amount of landscaping over the years and have found that plumbing, gas, electric and phone are buried plenty deep. Irrigation is only buried 6" deep, if that in many cases. Cable gets thrown on top of the ground and sod laid on top of it. That's the one to really watch out for.

In any event, if you're going to do any major digging, call 1 800 DIG TESS to get your utilities marked.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by eileenkeeney

How deep are utilities required to bury their pipes and wires?

I found a white pvc pipe buried in my yard, it is maybe a 4" diameter pipe, and it comes in from the neighbor's yard, and ends in my yard, and has a cap on the end.
It was only a few inches deep, and then forced to bend so it could remain a few inches deep where my yard sloped.

My friend says I need to call the place people call before they dig.
But I am only digging a few inches, to level an area. I am going no deeper than one would go for a garden.
Should anything belonging to the utilities be this shallow, in my ground?
Or is it safe to just cut it off?

I really don't want to make my level area as high as this pipe is, as that means bringing in more dirt (or rock). I was hoping I could just move dirt from the high end of my yard to the lower end of the area I want level.
But if I am limited by this shallow pipe, I have to make my area at least that high.

I would ask my neighbor, but they don't speak any English. We have communicated a few times (barely).
Mostly we just say Hi to each other.

Hard to say from your description what it might be. However a pipe that large in diameter can be some type of old drainage pipe (gutter downspouts or possibly area drains) or it can be an old sewage connection. It would definitely be in your benefit to find out exactly what it is and where it originates. Since it is only a few inches deep that is not much hand digging to trace it back to its origin.

As for utilities they can be from 12" to 6' deep depending on the utility. If you are going to be digging it sure does help to be safe and call for a utility locate so you don't unexpectedly find a line!

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

Call!!

It is the safe thing to do and it is the law. In many places in Austin, the top soil is only 1-2 inches thick. I would not expect utilities to be buried very deeply.

Home Page | Texas 811

I've done utility installations and they will bury them as deep as called for regardless of what is under the easily trenched soil. Had one job where the top soil was only about 12" deep, with bedrock below that, and we had to bury electric feeder in protective conduit down 3'+. We tore up one specialty trenching rig (specifically for cutting rock) trying to get down through and finally had to jackhammer a trench in the bedrock. Believe me running that 1000'+ was no fun at all!

[eileenkeeney]

We are going to call before doing any more digging. After reading the information on the link provided in the first response, I learned that they want people to call even for planting bushes and other shallow type digging.

However,
I do not expect that this pipe will belong to any major utility.
So I am not sure what to do with it.

I want to cut it off at the point where I want to dig a bit deeper (assuming it is not claimed by any utility).

Is it safe to cut if no utility claims it?

Talking to the neighbors to determine what it is, is complicated since they speak so little English.
But I can see that they placed their Garden such that it looks like they also found this pipe, and decided to just place their garden next to it, and not over it.


I find it interesting that when my water main broke, and the plumbers could not tell exactly where the line was, based on how the water was spurting out in the yard, that they did not get anything marked before doing their major discovery digging.

But we will call on Monday.


I am still curious what the actual law is, regarding how deep utilities are supposed to bury their wires.

Thank you for all fo the responses.

[neddy]

Iamwayne must not be down here. 24 inches and frost line..haha..good one

[iamwayne]

Neddy must never worked hard labor digging trenches for electrical and plumbing to meet National Electric Code and City Of Austin code... haha... good one too