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Sewer Line cross bored by red pipe

Posted on 1/1/23 at 9:26 am
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 9:26 am
I’ve had a continuous sinkhole in my front yard. Not huge but I’ve leveled it a time or two and it opened up bigger after this rain. I grabbed the shovel to see what was happening. My green sewer line is missing an entire section with broken edges. There is a red “pipe” cutting right through the path of the sewer.

At first, I assumed it must have been settling that caused the sewer to crack over the red. (I’m assuming this is the Demco main power as they’re buried in our hood)

Googling this morning introduced me to cross boring. They drill through your sewer line when they do the boring to run their utility line. That appears to be exactly the cause. I’m assuming my first move is getting Demco out.

Anyone have experience with this?



Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 10:49 am to
Small update. Demco already came out and looked. Definitely a cross bore, but they don’t think it was their line based on depth/diameter/color. They entered a ticket for everyone to come mark their lines to see who is to blame. They said it’s pretty common and whoever’s line is responsible to fix my plumbing. Hopefully no big fights but I’ll have to wait till everyone can mark the lines.

Could be cox, att, Eatel or still possibly Demco
Posted by ruzil
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2012
16899 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 10:51 am to
I had this happen 20 years ago when they ran the coax for Cox cable.

My sewer backed up shortly after I moved in. I figured it was Cox's damage and they denied doing it and refused to pay for fixing it.

My plumber ran a video camera through the line before he did his repair. I called cox and offered to send them the video as proof......they changed their tune right quick and cut me a check.

They didn't want the video
Posted by LEASTBAY
Member since Aug 2007
14285 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 11:32 am to
Pretty wild.
Posted by farad
non-entity of St George
Member since Dec 2013
9656 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 12:06 pm to
AT&T is cutting and cross boring underground utilities all over as they upgrade their network...
they cut a water main that had the subdivision off for 24 hours...
sewer lines, water lines, cable, gas, you name it...
then when the cut line gets repaired they can end up cutting another utility that was not cut in the first place...
Posted by armsdealer
Member since Feb 2016
11500 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 12:59 pm to
I am baffled that utilities are allowed to do this. What about calling to get everything marked before you dig, do they just not care?
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 1:19 pm to
I’m guessing the big picture makes it cheaper to fix screwups than to dig everything up when laying new services. I’m just shocked I’ve never had a backup or plumbing issue. The danger is people get a power auger to clear their lines and can sever dangerous stuff. Electrical, fiber or gas lines.



Posted by TigerBandTuba
Member since Sep 2006
2542 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 1:49 pm to
It's probably supposed to be orange which is Charter/AT&T/etc

Power is usually grey electrical conduit or black with a red stripe


I've seen sewer lines get bored through and not have issues for 10+ years
This post was edited on 1/1/23 at 1:52 pm
Posted by oldskule
Down South
Member since Mar 2016
15476 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 2:26 pm to
Thats bullshite.....

They should go around existing utilities....that is actually very dangerous!

Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 2:32 pm to
quote:

It's probably supposed to be orange which is Charter/AT&T/etc Power is usually grey electrical conduit or black with a red stripe I've seen sewer lines get bored through and not have issues for 10+ years


Good to know. I can’t tell you the last time they bored new lines. Years ago for sure. I’ve seen several others on my road with the small sinkhole. I assumed it was maybe faulty Wyes or something tapping into the main sewer connection. Apparently they hit the elevation of those lines just right to zap some of our sewer lines.
Posted by HonoraryCoonass
Member since Jan 2005
18069 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 3:28 pm to
8-1-1
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 3:35 pm to
They were pretty useless this morning. Luckily the Demco manager was on speaker with the lineman this morning and he put in the 811 with notes about the specific issue
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
38685 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 5:43 pm to
quote:

cross boring. They drill through your sewer line when they do the boring to run their utility line


That's insane, Ive never heard of that as a legal thing to do and I am in the construction field.
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 6:00 pm to
quote:

cross boring. They drill through your sewer line when they do the boring to run their utility line

It’s not purposeful or anything. Just careless and common enough for it to be a thing.

Atoms’ page on it including informative videos
Posted by baseballmind1212
Missouri City
Member since Feb 2011
3256 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 6:09 pm to
Crossbore is extremely last ditch option. That line would have never gotten cross bored if it was connecting a large commercial structure or a city/county owned structure (think public storm drain pipe).


This is just another example of one of the big boys (att, etc.) That take advantage of homeowners who probably won't do the necessary due diligence (like camera the line and then go thru 1hr plus of phone calls) to hold them financially accountable.


Unfortunately I see it happen a lot.
This post was edited on 1/1/23 at 6:10 pm
Posted by Deaux boi
BFE
Member since Jun 2016
379 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 6:10 pm to
Positively not done on purpose. It’s the law to call 811 before you dig or bore. I have also seen locating company’s miss their locates by several feet.
Posted by Spankum
Miss-sippi
Member since Jan 2007
56018 posts
Posted on 1/1/23 at 11:28 pm to
I have pretty good knowledge of this. It is not done on purpose, but sewer lines are installed with no tracer wire, so there is no way to locate them before the other pipe is installed. Believe me, every company wants to avoid them and if they find out that their pipe caused a crossbore, they will make the repair at no cost to you.

If you have any other questions, just let me know. If you have trouble getting resolution of this, I can probably help with that too.
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/2/23 at 7:17 am to
quote:

Spankum
much appreciated
Posted by Deaux boi
BFE
Member since Jun 2016
379 posts
Posted on 1/5/23 at 8:38 pm to
Find out anything yet?
Posted by RaginCajunz
Member since Mar 2009
5337 posts
Posted on 1/5/23 at 9:10 pm to
Looks like Cox. Everyone has come out and marked. Eatel last luckily. Cox actually marked Eatel’s line somehow. Double verified by Eatel’s great tech today. He also looked at my shite pit problem and said unequivocally the conduit was too big and a different color than they use. I have a ticket with Cox’s “damage claims” department and they are supposed to send someone out again to sort it out.

This post was edited on 1/5/23 at 9:11 pm
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