Blogs

Have you ever had a project at your home or a new build on your property that required digging outside? Michigan law requires that underground utility lines must be flagged before you start digging. That's where the BWL Stake and Locate department comes into play for the Greater Lansing region!  

Any project that requires digging, one of our seven underground utility locators will be there to locate the utility and mark it properly, so it’s not hit when construction begins. On average, our locators respond to 82,000 tickets every year through the Miss Dig system, working on around 300 requests per week. They’re given up to three days to go and mark BWL’s utilities. As years pass, more and more facilities are installed underground, so this department is very important in ensuring our water and electric lines are marked for people to see.  

Any type of water is marked with a blue flag and paint and electric are marked with a red flag and paint. Safety is top of mind for this department, as not marking one of our utilities could result in accidents. 

“Our group is very hard working, and always staying busy. There’s always something to get done and this group makes sure we do that in time,” says Eric Nemeth, BWL Lead Supervisor of Electric Operations. 

When a storm or emergency rolls around, Stake and Locate is in charge of going to mark where broken or downed poles are at so underground and overhead crews know where to go and how to stay safe. That’s why one of our underground utility locators is always on call 24/7. They also work closely with our Water and Underground departments since they can’t go down into manholes themselves if they need to locate utilities underground.  

If you think about it, Lansing couldn’t continue to grow with new construction and builds without the help of our underground utility locators!