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From: davidb@pacer.uucp (David Barts)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Massive Service Outage in Northern Illinois!
Message-ID: <14011@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 24 Oct 90 04:04:09 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 762, Message 4 of 13


What I'm wondering is why IBT didn't bury a strip of warning tape
above the cable.  (Maybe they did, but I've heard no mention of
something like "the contractor ignored the warning tape and continued
digging" in any accounts I've heard of this incident.)

When my parents had a house built in 1977, I distinctly remember the
utilities filling the trenches to within a foot of the top, laying a
strip of thick yellow plastic tape, and then filling the trenches the
rest of the way.  This was in a western state (New Mexico) that has
far fewer laws and regulations than a populous state like Illinois.

Why would IBT (or the state of Illinois) fail to take the same steps
to protect a major trunk in the 1980s that Mountain bell took to
protect a single residential service drop in the 1970s?


David Barts			Pacer Corporation, Bothell, WA
davidb@pacer.uucp		...!uunet!pilchuck!pacer!davidb