GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS

Inexpensive Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and mapping programs are new tools that are especially handy for streamlining notices of excavation to one-call centers. These tools provide a means for excavators to accurately determine the exact location of a hard-to-describe dig site and communicate it to facility operators by way of the one-call center. A $300 receiver provides an accurate location based on signals from GPS satellites orbiting the earth. A $500 computer program will take GPS information, either typed in, or by direct hookup to a GPS receiver, and show the location on a map displayed on the computer screen. This allows a facility operator to quickly determine whether there are facilities near the dig site that need to be marked.