Expired Locate, Faded Gas Mark, Open Trench at Quitting Time

• The 811 ticket is the first problem. Most states set ticket life at about 10 working days; 13 days is expired. Do not dig on it. Request a new locate, and use any meet-and-confer or re-mark provision the state allows. The clock and the markings do not survive on their own.
• The faded gas mark is no mark. A plastic gas service is hard to locate, so expect the line to be off the paint by a foot or more. Treat it as unlocated until it is re-marked and then pothole it by soft excavation (hand dig or vacuum excavation) to establish true depth and alignment before any machine crosses.
• Notify the gas utility and the city right-of-way office, and keep the locate ticket numbers on site with the crew.
• Separation and crossing: confirm the gas service does not share the irrigation trench. Maintain the required horizontal separation, and if you must cross, cross perpendicular with the irrigation line above or below per the gas utility's rule. Never parallel the gas line in the same trench.
• Hand digging near the gas line happens with a spotter present and the utility locator on notice.

• Protective system. At 60 in. the trench is over 5 ft and requires one - sloping, benching or shielding. A 30 in. wide trench cut vertical in firm Type B clay past 5 ft is the classic setup for a wall collapse. Slope per tabulated data (Type B is typically 1:1 from the bottom) or use a trench box rated for the depth.
• Competent person. Someone designated must inspect the excavation at the start of each shift, after rain, and after any change, and must have authority to stop work and pull the crew out.
• Spoils and access. Keep spoil at least 2 ft back from the edge, further where traffic loads the wall, and provide a ladder within 25 ft of travel for anyone working below grade.
• Traffic 4 ft away at 35 mph is not a work zone, it is an unprotected hazard. Set up per MUTCD: advance warning signs, cones or drums, and a positive barrier between traffic and the trench edge. Vehicle intrusion is a leading cause of trench fatalities.
• End of day. A 200 ft trench with a 5 ft open end cannot be left open and unmarked. Cover or barricade it, light it if it stays open overnight, and do not park equipment at the edge loading the wall.

The demo is two problems in one afternoon.

1. The watering restriction. The city is on twice-weekly watering. Running the new zones for an audience is irrigation for show, not for plant need. Confirm with the water purveyor whether new-system commissioning or establishment watering is exempt, and if it is, get it in writing and log the date and time. If it is not exempt, move the demo to an allowed watering day, run each zone only long enough to prove it (60-90 seconds), and shut down. A photo of a running system on a Friday at 5 p.m. during restrictions is exactly how a contractor gets reported.

2. A demo is not a startup. The system should be commissioned first: flush the mains before heads go on, verify each zone's flow and pressure against design, confirm the backflow assembly has been tested and certified before the system is connected, set the controller and rain sensor, and record as-builts. Then demonstrate what you have already proven.

There is also a practical reason to do it in that order: if a zone is short of pressure, you want the time to fix it, not an audience.