"Our street (200 block of West Violet) has been under construction first by Verizon and now it seems that the City of Tampa is taking it apart, via Dallas Contractors hired by the city. I need help if you know who I can call as to making a formal complaint. Yesterday these people hit a water line and we were without water for 6 hrs. Today they hit a gas line and not only do I smell gas inside the house but the front of the house has been like that for the past hour. Peoples gas is there now fixing the break, but when I complainted to the site manager he said, Miss this is a 100 year old street and pipes we really don't know where were going since we really don't have any blueprints!!!!! I called the office and the CEO Paul Lancaster was in a meeting. My worry I have animals and I work from home, plus my mother is here visiting and is home all day."
Anyone have an answer?
This raises a larger question. How does the City of Tampa, Verizon, TECO, Peoples' Gas and others ensure pipes will not be cut? As I just posted we lost service to 100 phones and a gas line was cut. Perhaps these are not lsited on maps either. If they know that these old neighborhoods has lines not marked, are there other things they can do to locate them? Should we be insisting that more occur? Or are they marked well and the contractors simply careless?
Here is an article Finding Buried Utilities Before They Find You from the the website "Grading and Excavation Contractors".
"Though it would be nice to have x-ray vision to allow us to see through the ground surface or pavement to determine what lies beneath, the next best thing can be obtained from a range of subsurface detection technologies on the market. This article will examine basic subsurface investigation devices, their operational techniques, the results they provide, the effects of soil characteristics on their performance, and other limitations. "
Utility Maps and Agency Information
Finding Pipes and Other Objects: Metal Detection
Ground-Penetrating Radar
Finding Leaks: Passive Sound Detection
Computerized Databases
Equipment Models
I'd take her concern to the city first, public works. If they don't get her an answer about the problems, I'd report it to the Health Dept. I know it sounds funny, but I had a landlord when I lived in Houston who wasn't very good at upkeep. When something was a health concern and the Housing Dept. wouldn't do anything, the Health Dept. would. I bet if she ended up going to the ER with poisoning from the gas, she'd be able to sue the city.
ReplyDeleteThere goes the mayors raise.
ReplyDeletePeople have such a fear these days and can't go without for a few hours. Most people have lost their survival of the fittest skills and are weak and meager. I smell gas, very little chance of explosion. I have no phone, then keep your mouth shut for a little while. If these services are out for days, then complain. Take it as a hurricane recovery preparation drill! Underground detection devices are not always reliable with old piping. It comes down to a business decision, pay for technology that may find pipes or go at it without and repair any damage. Trust me, the contractors don't want to hit these lines for their own saety and dollar.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I live on Osborne and Highland and those Dallas guys ripped up my sidewalk many months ago. It is so bad, the grass has spread from my yard into the fill dirt and it looks like absolute shit. I finally decided to take action after random inquiries with construction workers yielded no results.
ReplyDeleteUtilize the TampaGov.net website. This can impower the people. It may take a few days to get a reply, but you can get one. When my request was completed I had gotten at least a response. I found my specific problem in the Customer Service Center list which was filed under "Sidewalk Damage Request (Repair)".
There are tons of categories as well. Also of note, they included the number of a City of Tampa employee named David Houseman and his phone number if I had any problems. So here it is for all you who aren't net savvy. Wait, we all are. Anyhow it is 813-274-5656.
It appears the construction is a cluster-fuck and will never end. But we all know it will, no matter how intermittently dispersed the work is. Good luck.
I just wish after all the upheaval Verizon's contractor caused and are causing in my area, we could actually *get* FIOS.
ReplyDeleteWait, who has the advertising slogan of "Call Before you Dig" are they saying that does not apply to Seminole Heights since it is too old. Give me a break. They are all incompetent asses that don't really care what their are doing.
ReplyDeletethis happens because they are cheap. they use the cheapest and probably illegal labor. there is a list of professions that locate structures, pipes, springs, rocks, etc underground. they choose not to utilize/pay for this. you get what/who you pay for.
ReplyDeleteLike someone said earlier - basically all of you whiners can get a grip ! Deal with it -
ReplyDeleteThese so called cheap and probably illeagal laboroers you are spouting off about MAY be your very own neighbors !! Oh brother - you people get on here spouting on about wanting Seminole Heights to be a neighborhood - yeah right! How many of you just moved here in the last 10 years anyway? Our family has been in this 'hood since the begining. You just want it to be a better looking stepford clone of yuppie professionals. Well ya know what - think about where you would be without these legal and law abiding poor slobs digging and trenching so you can get the new pipes and technology.