As spring turns into summer, utilities across the Midwest and Northeast prepare for a significant increase in construction and excavation activity. This seasonal spike hits everything from roadwork and utility upgrades to private development projects. The uptick is predictable, but it's also the period when line strikes, missed locates, and service disruptions climb sharply.

For utilities managing locate operations, the months ahead come down to one question: How do you keep up with escalating 811 ticket volumes without sacrificing safety or locate accuracy? The answer is acting now. With proactive planning, the right locate management technology, and tighter coordination with excavators and contractors, utilities can reduce damages before the first shovel hits the ground.

Why Does Summer Bring Higher Utility Damage Risk?

As the ground thaws and construction ramps up, excavation activity surges. Public infrastructure projects, private development, road widening, fiber installation, pipeline work: digging becomes a daily reality across the region. That increase in excavation naturally brings a higher risk of underground facility damages, especially when locate requests are delayed, miscommunicated, or missed entirely.

States with shorter construction seasons feel this the most. Minnesota and New York compress months of excavation work into a narrow window, putting additional strain on 811 call centers, locate teams, and field crews. Tighter timelines and higher ticket volumes mean less margin for error. The risk of service outages, gas line strikes, and safety incidents rises with every week of the season.

The good news: much of this risk is preventable with the right preparation.

Get Your Locate Workflows in Order Before Peak Season

Utilities can't afford to enter peak construction season without a firm grip on internal processes. Now is the time to:

Review locate workflows to confirm they're efficient, compliant with state one-call requirements, and easy for field crews to follow.

Clarify roles and responsibilities across departments, from engineering and asset management to field operations and contract locators.

Audit staffing and equipment levels to make sure locate crews are ready for the volume increase. If you were short-staffed last summer, this is the window to address it.

Standardize documentation and response timelines to reduce variability and eliminate guesswork in the field.

Getting ahead of the rush protects critical infrastructure and improves readiness across your entire locate operation.

How Does Locate Management Technology Reduce Damages During Peak Season?

Technology makes the difference between a locate that prevents a dig-in and one that causes a delay or a miss. With the right platform, utilities can automate 811 ticket processing, assign work based on geography and crew availability, and flag high-risk tickets that need extra attention. Real-time dashboards give supervisors visibility into backlogs, on-time performance, and emerging issues before they become problems.

KorTerra's locate management platform gives utilities GIS-enabled routing, field communication tools, and reporting that connects ticket activity to outcomes. These capabilities make it possible to manage high volumes of locate requests without sacrificing accuracy or response times. When the workload spikes, having reliable tools already in place takes pressure off field teams and reduces the errors that lead to damages.

Why Damage Prevention Depends on Excavator and Contractor Collaboration

One of the most overlooked factors in utility damage prevention is communication with external stakeholders. Safe digging depends on internal readiness, but it also depends on how well utilities coordinate with excavators, contractors, and municipalities. Misunderstandings about project timelines, ticket status, or marking protocols create unnecessary risk.

How can utilities improve coordination with excavators? Build transparent, two-way communication with frequent diggers and project partners. Provide clear guidelines and access to ticket status information so accountability sits on all sides. When questions come up, a direct line of communication allows for resolution before a miscommunication turns into a dig-in.

Proactive outreach to high-volume excavators before peak season starts is one of the simplest ways to reduce damages. The utilities that do it consistently see fewer incidents and fewer surprises.

How to Use Historical Damage Data to Prevent Repeat Incidents

Past damage data holds patterns that most organizations never act on. Utilities that take time to analyze previous incidents can make more targeted, informed decisions going into the next season.

What should utilities look for in historical damage reports? Review last summer's damage data for patterns: specific locations, asset types, excavation contractors, or ticket categories that contributed to a higher share of incidents. Were damages concentrated in a particular district? Did a specific excavator account for repeat strikes?

That analysis drives preventive action: additional marking in high-traffic corridors, refresher training for crews assigned to high-risk areas, or proactive outreach to the excavation companies that appeared most frequently in last year's incident reports.

Incorporating lessons from past seasons into current planning reduces repeat issues and strengthens your overall damage prevention program.

Stay Ahead of the Summer Surge

The busiest months of the year are approaching, but there's still time to get ahead of the demand. By assessing current locate workflows, deploying the right technology, and strengthening communication with both internal teams and external partners, utilities can significantly reduce damage risk during peak construction season.

A few focused moves now prevent service outages, safety incidents, and costly repairs later. KorTerra supports utilities across North America with locate management solutions built to improve on-time performance, increase locate accuracy, and protect the underground infrastructure your communities depend on.

Make this summer the season your damage numbers go down, not up.

About KorTerra, Inc.

KorTerra is the leading provider of damage prevention software, protecting billions of dollars in underground infrastructure. For over 30 years, the leading stakeholders in gas distribution, pipeline operation, telecommunications, electric distribution, contract locating, and city, county, and state governments have trusted KorTerra as their damage prevention solution. KorTerra helps mitigate risk and ensure the safety of field personnel by providing secure software platforms for processing 811 locate tickets, tracking and reporting asset damages, meeting regulatory compliance, and more. Explore additional solutions at korterra.com and follow KorTerra on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Paige Nygaard – KorTerra, Inc.
952.368.1911
marketing@korterra.com