For Immediate Release
December 19, 2023
Contact: Benjamin Dierker, bdierker@aii.org
Action Plan Needed to Reverse Historic High Damage Trend
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 19, 2023) – The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) issued its latest report, Improving Upon Our Dig Laws: Framing Out a Plan for Achieving a 50 Percent Reduction in Excavation Damage on Tuesday. The report reviews the latest available data on excavation damage and provides a framework for how the industry may go about reversing the trend.
“We have now experienced three historic record-high annual damage counts in four years,” said Aii Executive Director Benjamin Dierker. “The latest available data signals more problems ahead, so now is the time for the industry to step up and commit to an action plan with transparency and accountability.”
The Report follows the annual Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT) Report from the Common Ground Alliance (CGA). The DIRT Report summarizes voluntarily submitted excavation damage data affecting critical buried infrastructure. In the latest version of that report, CGA points to the third record peak in nationwide excavation damage incidents in just four years. As a damage prevention industry group, CGA issued a challenge to the industry in February to cut damages in half over five years.
Seeing no actionable plan or clear roadmap for achieving such a monumental task, Aii put together a framework we believe is needed to achieve CGA’s industry challenge. This Report includes nine steps for forming an action plan and enacting it to see the damage trend reversed. Absent greater transparency and accountability, we expect the excavation damage trend to continue to increase in spite of the admirable challenge to cut it in half.
To read the report, visit here.
To read more about Aii and damage prevention, visit www.Aii.org.
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The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is an independent, national research and educational organization. The nation’s only think tank dedicated to infrastructure, Aii explores the intersection of economics, law, and public policy in the areas of climate, damage prevention, energy, infrastructure, innovation, technology, and transportation. (Aii.org)