New Policy Brief: Enhancing Damage Prevention and Infrastructure Resilience

Washington, D.C, Wednesday, March 12, 2025 — The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is excited to announce the release of our latest policy brief, “Improving Damage Prevention and Infrastructure Resilience.” This concise analysis addresses critical gaps in damage prevention systems, points to a practical solution within existing infrastructure, and offers actionable recommendations to strengthen the resilience of our nation’s infrastructure.

• No-Call Damage Leads Causes: For years, the Common Ground Alliance has reported that the leading single cause of excavation damage to buried infrastructure is “no call” or failure to notify 811 before digging.
• Situational Awareness Is Limited: Without an 811 notice, most utilities have little or no knowledge of what is happening around their assets. Existing monitoring technology can be imprecise or expensive.
• Leveraging Existing Infrastructure: Fiber Optic Cable is one of the most struck buried facilities during excavation work. Fiber has become the backbone of the communications network, sending data signals and providing internet. Presently, fiber is predominantly used for that singular purpose, but it can do more.
• Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing has Multi-Benefit: Modern technology enables existing fiber to be used as a sensing technology, capable of detecting and categorizing external activity like earthquakes, traffic, or excavation work. For damage prevention, utility companies sharing a right-of-way with fiber or being near existing fiber, they can gain real-time situational awareness of work around their assets and gain insights for enabling preventative maintenance.