Excavator Says Negligent Contractor Caused Damaged Extenet Cable

Extenet in March 2021 hired a contractor, U.S. Infrastructure, to locate and mark its underground utility cable and facilities under a 48-hour “dig notice” to protect the cable and facilities from potential damage during excavation, said the excavator, Horizon Underground, in a third-party petition Feb. 10 (docket DC-22-17265) in the 101st District Texas Court in Dallas County. The contractor negligently “marked a portion of the area but not all of the area identified in the dig notice,” said the petition. It marked the Extenet cable as terminating at an existing utility pole, but that cable in fact extended for another 650 feet past the pole, and that’s where the damage occurred, said Horizon. Extenet in a Dec. 16 complaint blamed Horizon employees for causing $34,454 in damages while excavating, boring and trenching without Extenet’s consent (see 2212200067). But in the "unlikely event" the court finds Horizon liable to Extenet for the damages, Horizon “asserts that it is entitled to judgment for contribution” against U.S. Infrastructure, said the petition.