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Top Story
Damages to underground infrastructure costs Canadians at least $1 billion every year.
Events
 The tournament will take place on June 26 at The Club at Bond Head, a course known for its tough wide open links style South course and the hilly parkland North course.
The Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance would like to thank the City of Toronto Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Michael D'Andrea, Chief Engineer and Executive Director Engineering & Construction Services, City of Toronto, Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, General Manager, Toronto Fire Services, Nicole Stoker, Program Manager, Health & Safety & Emergency Planning, all presenting panelists, volunteers and NFP Performance Management.
DIRT Reporting
 The Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) has been collecting underground damage data since 2005 to better understand the root causes that lead to these events and to develop and target public awareness plans to minimize the risk of future events. The 2017 DIRT Report was released and posted online on March 16, 2018. In addition, all ORCGA members received a copy of the DIRT Report in the mail by April 1, 2018. Lastly, all attendees at the Dig Safe: Construction Safety in the GTA event received a copy.
The Tolerance Zone is the official email newsletter of the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance. This newsletter designed to share Damage Prevention and Dig Safe info, ORCGA news, events, announcements and member-generated content. 
Member News
 Excavation remains one of the riskiest construction activities, and in 2016, an estimated $975 million was spent across Canada on societal costs related to damage to underground plant. Infrastructure owners are now opting to outsource the work involved with locating their buried assets to trained and qualified Locate Service Providers (LSPs). However, enlisting the services of an underqualified LSP could actually increase the likeliness of damages, injury and liability. Here are a few key selection criteria to keep in mind.  The Ontario Concrete & Drain Contractors Association would like to achieve uniformity throughout Ontario regarding the Extension of Sewer Laterals 1.5m beyond the property line in new subdivisions, by means of Municipal Standard Drawings.  The Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario invites its members to Eagles Nest Golf Course on May 14 for an interactive discussion about what firms should expect moving forward. What will be discussed? How ALL stakeholders will need to change their culture to adapt;  An excavation crew, with locate ticket information in hand and an “All-Clear” positive response from the One-Call center, starts digging on a morning that begins like any other. Not long after the very first dirt is moved something goes horribly wrong. One of the crew was almost 100 yards away when he heard a loud THUMP, and was soon rocked by a tremendous explosion. The crew had struck a high pressure, large diameter, natural gas pipeline. Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) provides designers and engineers with the tools to determine how the existing infrastructure will be affected by a project so they can make adjustments and plan ahead to minimize impacts. This workshop will give an overview of SUE tools, techniques and applications. It will discuss CI/ASCE 38-02: Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data published in 2003. The standard is the backbone for the practice of SUE. Keynote speaker is Jim Anspach, co-creator of the ASCE 38-02. Jim is considered the “father” of Subsurface Utility Engineering. He served as Principal/Owner of the first national SUE company in the US for 20 years before entering private practice as an educator guiding students at U.S. and U.K Universities, consultant, researcher, and expert witness. He has served the industry in many capacities through the years, and is recognized as a leader in the utility damage prevention industry. Jim is currently the ASCE’s spokesman on utility engineering issues. About ORCGA
 If you are looking to make contributions to the Damage Prevention industry through Best Practices, Reporting and Evaluation, or Events and Education, the ORCGA Committees are looking for your input! Contact Jennifer at jennifer@orcga.com or 905.328.7063. |
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The Dig Safe: Construction Safety in the GTA event was recently held on April 13 in Toronto City Hall Council Chamber.
