This morning there was another gas leak, this time in Carlton.
Streets were shut down, the area was cordoned off and traffic was diverted into surrounding streets. Which of course caused a traffic nightmare for 5 straight hours.
VicRoads put out several tweets and Facebook posts about it and also put it up on their website to try and warn motorists, well in advance, to avoid the whole area.
RATHDOWNE ST, CARLTON – All lanes closed southbound at Princes St, due to gas leak. Delays back past Curtain St. Avoid the area #victraffic
— VicRoads (@VicRoads) August 31, 2016
It was also broadcast on Melbourne radio stations to try and get the word out to as many people as possible, so they wouldn’t get caught up in it all.
3 major gas leaks in the last 3 weeks
This comes just 6 days since the last gas leak in Reservoir and 13 days after the gas leak in Chapel Street, Windsor. Making it 3 major gas leaks in 3 weeks.
And of course, this is nothing new. Those of you who follow my blog posts will remember this post that I put up, which listed a heap of different incidents in which gas pipes were hit and damaged.
So the question has to be asked: will this ever end?
Or is it something that we just have to get used to?
I can spend 8 hours a day out on the road, performing underground service locating. (And if you do need a locator, you can book us here.) I can then spend hours more each night on the computer writing posts like this to try and help educate those who I can’t get to during the day. But sometimes you have to ask yourself: am I actually getting anywhere with this, or am I just fighting a losing battle?
Luckily it’s not a fight I’m doing on my own. There are many others who are equally passionate about securing the underground infrastructure and protecting the health and safety of contractors working near utilities buried underground.
The message seems to be getting through
The message must be getting through because the number of Dial Before You Dig enquiries continues to increase each year.
Last financial year alone there were more than 1.5 million individual requests put into Dial Before You Dig—more than ever before—so we know the message is sinking in, at least to some people out there.
However, at the same time, it seems there are more hits than ever. Now, yes—these days, with smartphones and social media, when something does happen it’s much more likely to be reported than it was in the past. So maybe it’s just that.
But what I do know is that something needs to change so there are not as many hits. So far we’ve been lucky: there have only been a very few incidents in which someone’s been seriously hurt or worse. But if this rate of hits to underground services continues, then I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time.
What do you think?
I realise I only get to see things from one side of the fence. So if you work in the construction industry or if you have an understanding of the services underground, then why not leave me a message below, and let me know what you think? What do you think should be done, so this kind of stuff doesn’t continue to keep happening? I’d love to hear your opinion. And no doubt so will the others who read this post. They might like your idea and even implement a few of the ideas you come up with.
So let us know.
Thanks,
Ben
