Methods and apparatus for multi-stage assessment of locate request tickets

Abstract

Locate and/or marking operations involve detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. One or more attributes of a locate and/or marking operation requested in a locate request ticket are assessed to provide one or more ticket assessment outcomes. In a first stage of assessment, a first assessment outcome is produced by analyzing at least some ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket. In a second stage of assessment, a second assessment outcome is produced based at least in part on the first assessment outcome. The first and/or second ticket assessment outcome(s) is/are transmitted and/or stored so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching a locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation.

1 . An apparatus for assessing a locate and/or marking operation requested in a locate request ticket, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, the apparatus comprising:
 at least one communication interface;   at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions; and   at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one memory and the at least one communication interface, wherein, upon execution of the processor-executable instructions, the at least one processor:
 A) in a first stage of assessment, produces a first assessment outcome at least in part by analyzing at least some ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket; 
 B) in a second stage of assessment, produces a second assessment outcome based at least in part on the first assessment outcome; and 
 C) controls the at least one communication interface to transmit, and/or controls the at least one memory to store, at least one of the first assessment outcome and the second assessment outcome so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
 C) receives the ticket information as input; and   D) outputs the first and/or second assessment outcomes.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further accesses auxiliary information from a data storage, and wherein, in A), the first assessment outcome is produced at least in part by analyzing the auxiliary information. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the auxiliary information comprises at least one information type selected from a group consisting of: historical ticket information, facilities maps, digital images, business rules, and excavator history information. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
 E) in a third stage of assessment, produces a third assessment outcome based at least in part on the first and second assessment outcomes.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the first assessment outcome comprises a scope assessment outcome, the second assessment outcome comprises a complexity assessment outcome, and the third assessment outcome comprises a risk assessment outcome. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein, in E), the at least one processor produces the risk assessment outcome based at least in part on a number of facilities to be located indicated in the scope assessment outcome and a complexity category indicated in the complexity assessment outcome. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least some ticket information analyzed in the first stage of assessment in A) is a first portion of the ticket information, and wherein, in B), in producing the second assessment outcome in the second stage of assessment, the at least one processor further analyzes at least a second portion of the ticket information. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the second assessment outcome comprises a complexity assessment outcome, and wherein, in B), in producing the complexity assessment outcome, the at least one processor analyzes at least one type of facilities to be located indicated in the first assessment outcome and a service type indicated in the ticket information. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein, in B), in producing the second assessment outcome in the second stage of assessment, the at least one processor further:
 B1) accesses auxiliary information from a data storage; and   B2) analyzes the auxiliary information in conjunction with the second portion of the ticket information.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the auxiliary information comprises historical information regarding one or more previously completed locate and/or marking operations. 
     
     
         12 . In a system comprising at least one processor, at least one communication interface, and at least one memory, a method for assessing a locate and/or marking operation requested in a locate request ticket, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, the method comprising:
 A) in a first stage of assessment performed by the at least one processor, producing a first assessment outcome at least in part by analyzing at least some ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket;   B) in a second stage of assessment performed by the at least one processor, producing a second assessment outcome based at least in part on the first assessment outcome; and   C) transmitting via the at least one communication interface, and/or storing in the at least one memory, at least one of the first assessment outcome and the second assessment outcome so as to facilitate clearing the locate request ticket and/or dispatching at least one locate technician to perform the locate and/or marking operation.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 C) receiving the ticket information as input; and   D) outputting the first and/or second assessment outcomes.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising accessing auxiliary information from a data storage, wherein the first assessment outcome is produced at least in part by analyzing the auxiliary information. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the auxiliary information comprises at least one information type selected from a group consisting of: historical ticket information, facilities maps, digital images, business rules, and excavator history information. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 E) in a third stage of assessment, producing a third assessment outcome based at least in part on the first and second assessment outcomes.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first assessment outcome comprises a scope assessment outcome, the second assessment outcome comprises a complexity assessment outcome, and the third assessment outcome comprises a risk assessment outcome. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein E) comprises producing the risk assessment outcome based at least in part on a number of facilities to be located indicated in the scope assessment outcome and a complexity category indicated in the complexity assessment outcome. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least some ticket information analyzed in the first stage of assessment in A) is a first portion of the ticket information, and wherein, in B), producing the second assessment outcome in the second stage of assessment comprises analyzing at least a second portion of the ticket information. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the second assessment outcome comprises a complexity assessment outcome, and wherein, in B), producing the complexity assessment outcome comprises analyzing at least one type of facilities to be located indicated in the first assessment outcome and a service type indicated in the ticket information. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein, in B), producing the second assessment outcome in the second stage of assessment comprises:
 B1) accessing auxiliary information from a data storage; and   B2) analyzing the auxiliary information in conjunction with the second portion of the ticket information.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the auxiliary information comprises historical information regarding one or more previously completed locate and/or marking operations. 
     
     
         23 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with at least one program including processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method for assessing a locate and/or marking operation requested in a locate request ticket, the locate and/or marking operation comprising detecting and/or marking a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area is planned to be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, the method comprising:
 A) in a first stage of assessment, producing a first assessment outcome at least in part by analyzing at least some ticket information obtained from the locate request ticket; and   B) in a second stage of assessment, producing a second assessment outcome based at least in part on the first assessment outcome.