For decades, municipalities and utility companies have buried water mains, gas lines, fiber optic conduits, power cables and other vital infrastructure under streets and sidewalks. Burying these systems improves safety, reliability and aesthetics, but it also creates a long-term problem: once installed, many of these utilities become practically invisible. The ground protects and hides them, but over time the memory of where they run becomes foggy. Records age, streets are widened or rerouted and even highly accurate GPS coordinates can drift or lose relevance as the surface infrastructure changes.

The result? What was once a known network of pipes and cables becomes a metaphorical “lost treasure.” When crews dig — for maintenance, upgrades or new construction — that invisibility can turn into a disaster. Minor incidents are common: broken lines that cause service disruptions and headaches. But sometimes the consequences are far worse: ruptured gas mains, flooding from damaged water or sewer lines, or severed fiber cables; all capable of causing serious safety hazards, costly repairs and major public inconvenience.

The limitations of “traditional” locating

Historically, locating buried plant often relied on conductive materials (metal pipes, conduits or tracer wires). These can be detected with standard locating equipment. But since the 1970s, many new installations, especially gas, water and fiber optic conduits, have been built using nonconductive materials such as PVC or HDPE.

When utilities are nonconductive, conventional electromagnetic locators often fail. In blind trials (McMahon, 2000) using standard survey methods, as much as half of all subsurface utilities were missed. [AC1] Additionally, PHMSA (Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) has reported (PHMSA, 2025) an average cost of $594,218,469 over the past three years for gas utility pipeline incidents with an average of 11 deaths and 30 injuries.

More expensive and specialized methods exist such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), but these have drawbacks: cost, complexity, training requirements and often lower reliability.

For many utility owners and contractors, that means uncertainty, risk and overhead.

A modern solution: electronic marker systems

Today contractors have a simple and effective option to help mark and map buried infrastructure: bury a small, passive marker alongside the utility that is tuned to resonate at a specific frequency. Later, a handheld detector can “ping” that frequency; if a marker is present, it responds with a detectable signal, revealing the plant’s precise location.

Because the marker is passive (no battery, no fluids, no active electronics), it remains stable and operational for decades, matching the typical service life of the buried utility. In practical terms: when you install a new water line, a fiber conduit or a gas main, drop in one of these markers; tie it to the utility; and record its GPS location. That’s all it takes.

Two examples:

• Ball markers (e.g., the “Omni Marker II”) — weighted, self-leveling coils that always present a vertical dipole response, making detection reliable regardless of how they landed in the trench.
• Spike markers — slim, pencil-shaped markers ideal for shallow installations, narrow ducts or spots above horizontal directional drilling (HDD) cables.

Because these markers are small, inexpensive and easy to install, there’s little reason not to use them — yet the payoff is huge.

Why this matters: Safety, cost, efficiency

• Avoid accidents and catastrophic failures. With electronic markers, crews know exactly where utilities run before they dig — dramatically reducing the chance of rupturing a line, causing a gas leak, flood or service outage.

• Save time, money and prevent delays. A precise marker means less time searching, less downtime, fewer emergency repairs and less traffic disruption. Compared to the cost of a full-scale utility strike, marker installation is inexpensive.

• Simplify planning and maintenance. Markers make it easy to update maps after installations or repairs: a few “as installed” photos and a read from the locator and a surveyor can quickly generate a precise digital record.
• Prepare for emergencies. In the event of a leak, break or urgent maintenance, markers let crews zero in on critical junctions, splices, or “dead ends” quickly — without resorting to guesswork, blind digging, or large excavations.

From cautionary tale to standard practice

Imagine a city street: beneath it lie miles of water pipes, fiber cables, gas lines and power conduits. The records, if they exist at all, are decades old and perhaps hand‑written, misplaced or tied to a street layout that’s changed. A contractor arrives to dig for a sidewalk upgrade. Without markers, you’re rolling the dice.

Now imagine the same job but this time, when the crew activates the locator, the locator will activate the marker balls indicating what’s below: water mains, fiber optic cables, gas conduits and more. They can plan safely. The job proceeds quickly. There are no surprises, no line strikes, no emergency repairs. The job finishes on time, under budget.

That’s what an electronic marker system buys you, a move from gamble to guarantee.

In the end, the buried “treasure” isn’t treasure at all — it’s infrastructure that society depends on. But when that infrastructure is hidden, its value becomes a liability. By marking it properly, you turn something risky into something manageable.

For any utility owner or contractor serious about safety, reliability and efficient asset management — the choice is simple. Mark it. Map it. And dig with confidence.