Utility Locates

A Utility Locates team member uses a device to help locate utilities in the area. The worker is wearing a fluorescent, high-visibility work jacket and a hard hat

Our mission is to plan, build, operate, and maintain public infrastructure and services to support the City’s quality of life, while working to inspire public confidence.

The Utility Locators are responsible for protecting over 141,000 underground assets underneath the City’s 6,165 lane miles of roadway, public and private property, right of ways and parks.

Our team serves with integrity, accountability, transparency, leadership, innovation, and persistent community engagement. We will operate as caring community members dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, safety, and the quality of life of Colorado Springs residents.

The Utility Locates Team protects underground assets that provide services to our parks, city buildings, stormwater infrastructure and traffic signals. These assets are extremely valuable and if damaged during construction, can negatively impact service delivery and increase costs.

A pie chart that shows the different assets that Utilitiy Locates protects. In order from largest to smallest portion of the pie chart, those are: irrigation points, irrigation lines, stormwater lines, stormwater inlets, parks/SIMD, manholes, stormwater outlets, electric utilities, and fiber.

Utility Locates works to protect a diverse array of community assets.

A graph that shows the volume of tickets received by the Utility Locates team from 2021-2024, broken down by month.

Utility Locates receives a high volume of requests to locate assets monthly.

Utility Locates operates two separate teams for north and south Colorado Springs.

View Utility Locates Team Boundaries Map

Why do I need to contact 811?

You need to contact 811 before you dig, so you can avoid hitting any underground utilities, such as cables, wires or pipes. It’s also the law to contact 811 before you dig.

I’m not digging very deep; do I really need to contact 811?

Yes, no matter how shallow or how deep you are digging, you must contact 811 first. Colorado State law defines excavation as “any operation in which earth is moved or removed by means of any tools, equipment, or explosives and includes augering, backfilling, boring, ditching, drilling, grading, plowing-in, pulling-in, ripping, scraping, trenching, hydro excavating, postholing, potholing and tunneling."

Who marks the lines?

The utility companies will mark the lines, some have in-house locators who mark their lines, while other hire a locating firm to mark their lines. Colorado 811 is not a locating company and does not locate utilities.

When can I start digging?

You can start digging once you have all your markings or positive response from the utilities on your ticket.

What do the colors on the ground mean?

Utility owners and operators follow the APWA (American Public Works Association) standard color code to mark the locations of their underground facilities. The following colors are used:

RED – Electric power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables
YELLOW – Gas, oil, steam, petroleum or gaseous materials
ORANGE – Communication, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit
BLUE – Potable Water
PURPLE – Reclaimed Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines
GREEN – Sewers and Drain Lines
WHITE – Proposed Excavation
PINK – Temporary Survey Markings

What is the cost to have an area marked?

There is no cost, it's a free service.

What are private utilities?

Private utilities are owned by the owner of a property and will not be marked with your request. These can include water and sewer laterals, power to a detached garage, sprinkler/irrigation systems, lines connected to a propane tank or septic system, etc. There may be private utilities within your dig area. It is your responsibility to have private facilities marked. For a list of private locating companies, please visit https://colorado811.org/private-locate-companies/.