How many pipelines are damaged every year? Are damage incidents increasing or decreasing? What are the causes of this damage? Being able to answer these questions would provide pipeline operators and other stakeholders with new ways to prevent damage to pipelines and protect the public. Until now, there has been no way to answer the questions on a broad level. 
 
In 2003, as part of their ongoing commitment to pipeline damage prevention, the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) created a web-based Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT). Though other agencies and groups have tracked pipeline data before, DIRT is the first of its kind to incorporate data from all pipeline stakeholders, including government regulators, one-call centers, insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, other utility owners and excavators.
 
Stakeholders voluntarily submit damage and near-miss reports to the database. The Common Ground Alliance analyzes the data submitted by all companies, and issues reports detailing nationwide damage trends.
 
Through DIRT, CGA hopes to provide a better understanding of damages and improve industry best practices in preventing damage, along with damage prevention education programs. 

DIRT also provides organizations with an easy way to view their own damage trends. Submitted data can easily be sorted by root cause, geographic location or even the type of excavation equipment used. To encourage participation, CGA keeps the data submitted by pipeline companies confidential. Users of DIRT only have access to their own company’s pipeline data. Because of that confidentiality, the data cannot be used for enforcement purposes or to determine liability.

The 2006 CGA report of 2005 damages tentatively scheduled for release in November 2006, will include the analysis of more than 50,000 damages nationwide; 25,000 or so were generated by Gas and Liquid utility owners.

DIRT is easy to use. CGA encourages all stakeholders to review DIRT’s Overview Web site  to gain additional information about the submission process and find answers to common questions about the system. Then they can visit DIRT’s main Web site and begin uploading their reports immediately. Stakeholders can upload the information through individual electronic forms, or in bulk using DIRT’s automated data loader or universal front end loader. The electronic forms take an average of five minutes each to fill out.