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The thing is, I live in Hong Kong. And if you tried to pull off this kind of thing here, even on land that you own, it's possibly illegal unless you have other

by k_sze 10y ago

The thing is, I live in Hong Kong. And if you tried to pull off this kind of thing here, even on land that you own, it's possibly illegal unless you have other paperwork done because you may damage fibre optics cables or rupture a cooking gas pipe or whatever.

myself248 10y ago
In the US, I don't believe there's any paperwork unless you plan to build something in the hole. Then it would be construction, but this is just a hole. You call a "utility locate" service (commonly known as Miss Dig) a few days in advance, and they look up all the records for buried stuff, and come mark it with little flags. (If you damage something because you didn't call, you bear full responsibility for the damage, but I don't believe it's a criminal act, just civil liability. But I'm definitely not a lawyer!) In this case, they probably checked those records and found a big patch of land with no underground utilities at all, before buying it. In rural areas that includes most land. In the city: Fiber optics run chiefly along suspended wires (search terms "messenger wire" and "aerial cable") or buried in conduits along established cable routes. Municipal water and sewer lines usually run under roads or along easements parallel to roads. Taps serving individual buildings branch off these. Electrical wires are usually aerial, and in places where they're run underground, they're usually very well marked and dotted with pad-mounted transformers along their length. If you wanted to dig a hole like this in the city, you'd be navigating a forest of little flags and might have a very hard time of it. In rural areas: Fiber optics usually run along railroad tracks, since those are pre-existing straight-line paths that connect population centers. Oil and gas pipelines are usually underground but usually well-marked and often kept clear of vegetation on the surface for inspection purposes. Electrical wires in rural areas are always aerial. Water is usually from wells, sewage is handled in septic systems, and heating gas is trucked around and stored in tanks at each house, so there are no buried lines for any of those. Digging a hole like this out in the country is pretty straightforward.
- k_sze 10y ago
  In Hong Kong, you may have a hard time getting the paperwork especially if you are not actually building something. You'd go to the offices and they'd ask you why you are applying for the paperwork, and then you'd tell them "I'm just going to dig a hole", and then they'd think you are crazy and say "no", and then you'd need to fight them through the Office of the Ombudsman.

by k_sze 10y ago

myself248 10y ago

In the US, I don't believe there's any paperwork unless you plan to build something in the hole. Then it would be construction, but this is just a hole. You call a "utility locate" service (commonly known as Miss Dig) a few days in advance, and they look up all the records for buried stuff, and come mark it with little flags. (If you damage something because you didn't call, you bear full responsibility for the damage, but I don't believe it's a criminal act, just civil liability. But I'm definitely not a lawyer!) In this case, they probably checked those records and found a big patch of land with no underground utilities at all, before buying it. In rural areas that includes most land. In the city: Fiber optics run chiefly along suspended wires (search terms "messenger wire" and "aerial cable") or buried in conduits along established cable routes. Municipal water and sewer lines usually run under roads or along easements parallel to roads. Taps serving individual buildings branch off these. Electrical wires are usually aerial, and in places where they're run underground, they're usually very well marked and dotted with pad-mounted transformers along their length. If you wanted to dig a hole like this in the city, you'd be navigating a forest of little flags and might have a very hard time of it. In rural areas: Fiber optics usually run along railroad tracks, since those are pre-existing straight-line paths that connect population centers. Oil and gas pipelines are usually underground but usually well-marked and often kept clear of vegetation on the surface for inspection purposes. Electrical wires in rural areas are always aerial. Water is usually from wells, sewage is handled in septic systems, and heating gas is trucked around and stored in tanks at each house, so there are no buried lines for any of those. Digging a hole like this out in the country is pretty straightforward.

k_sze 10y ago
In Hong Kong, you may have a hard time getting the paperwork especially if you are not actually building something. You'd go to the offices and they'd ask you why you are applying for the paperwork, and then you'd tell them "I'm just going to dig a hole", and then they'd think you are crazy and say "no", and then you'd need to fight them through the Office of the Ombudsman.