

Metro Dig at Tysons Stirs Underground Intrigue - jballanc
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/30/AR2009053002114.html

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wglb
So is it just in Illinois that we have <http://www.illinois1call.com/>? This
seems to be seriously effective. Someone doing work on the yard calls the
number and sometime the next day a whole passel of yellow/blue/red flags are
planted in the ground, marking where various things are. They are doing
resurfacing on the subdivision street, and there are flags everywhere,
sometimes augmented with yellow paint on the grass.

On the other hand, Chicago is famous for having a $2 billion dollar flood in
which nobody was hurt or killed. One of the city inspectors called out
apparently did not even know of the abandonded underground railroad that as he
"inspected" the area, the flood was just about to get underway.

This was a major urban adventure, as they tried to plug the hole. One scene
had huge concrete trucks hurtling down city streets in excess of 70 mph
flanked by police cruisers. Another scene had unimaginably large pumps brought
in to pump out basement complexes. (The Army Corps of Engineers would not let
them be used, as the draining would have been too fast, causing collapse of
walls)

There was even a special extension granted to individuals whose tax returns
filed late due to this adventure.

~~~
larrywright
I think the issue here, at least in part, is that the government likely
doesn't advertise their fiber locations. So when those doing the digging seek
approval, nobody knows the fiber is there.

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gregking
LOL. I live in Northern Virginia and that craziness does not surprise me one
bit!

One night on the way home from grabbing one drink I accidentally turned into a
govt complex that was probably CIA or something. I figured I'd tell the guys
at the gate I made the wrong turn and they'd let me leave. Low and behold I
was held within the gates for 3 hours, subjected to a series of alcohol tests
conducted by several feds who rolled up in unmarked black suburbans repeatedly
asking me what I was doing there. At the end of all the huffing and puffing I
passed every single test and was warned I got off easy as I was clearly
intoxicated and next time things wouldn't go so smoothly. This was after I
agreed to a voluntary search of my vehicle with hopes of just getting the hell
out of there.

~~~
RKlophaus
Yep, when I worked out in Reston (also in Northern Virginia area, for those on
the other coast) there was a building like that right next to ours. If you
pulled into their driveway by accident, you could expect to have machine guns
pointed at you until they determined you were not a threat.

Occasionally, we would have an interviewee show up 20 minutes late for an
interview in a cold sweat, shaking, and looking like they had seen a ghost--
all because of a wrong turn.

~~~
gregking
Ya, it was Reston where it happend to me also.

