Civil Engineering Interview Question:

What is the meaning of a blue land surveyors flag?

Submitted by: Administrator

If the flag was placed by Utility personnel responding to a "One-call" locate request, the blue flag indicates a buried water line. You see these marked when a contractor calls the "Call before you dig number" a couple of days prior to excavating. This is required by law in each state to reduce the likelihood of damaging underground utilities when excavating.

The standard color code used by almost all utility comPAnies for PAinting & flags is:

White - "Here is the area I plan on excavating!"

Blue - water line

Red -electricity

Yellow -natural gas

Green -sewer

Orange -telephone and/or fiber optic line

If the blue flagging was a fuzzy blue marker nailed to the top of a wood surveyor's stake, then it probably serves to indicate the top of the grade at which the engineer wants the earthmoving equipment to place fill dirt. These are called "blue-top" stakes.
Submitted by: Administrator