My site grid collapsed because I didn't flag a modern pipe

I was digging a test pit in a backyard in Sacramento, looking for a historic property line. My trowel hit something hard and metallic, and I assumed it was just more fill. Turns out it was a live water line from the 1980s, and my excavation wall gave way, flooding the unit. I had to shut off the main valve, bail out the pit with a bucket for an hour, and re-draw my entire site map. Anyone else had a modern utility wreck their stratigraphy?

2 comments

2 Comments

rileyjones2mo ago

Sacramento's modern pipes are the real site vandals. At least you got a free swimming hole for a minute.

wren8062mo ago

Yeah but that water's gotta go somewhere. Those new pipes are sized for bigger storms we keep getting. My cousin's neighborhood flooded last year because the old system couldn't handle it. They put in bigger drains and now his street is fine. It's a trade-off, fixing one problem can cause another for a bit.