Methods, apparatus and systems for generating electronic records of underground facility locate and/or marking operations

Abstract

A locate and/or marking operation comprises locating and/or identifying, using at least one physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities. The at least one underground facility and/or the at least one physical locate mark is digitally represented on a display device so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation.

1 . A method for generating a corrected electronic record of a locate and/or marking operation performed by a locate technician, the locate and/or marking operation comprising locating and/or identifying, using at least one physical locate mark, a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities, the method comprising:
 A) electronically receiving first information relating to a location of the at least one underground facility and/or the at least one physical locate mark;   B) based at least in part on the first information received in A), digitally representing, on a display device, the location of the least one underground facility and/or the at least one physical locate mark so as to generate an electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation;   C) receiving second information relating to a corrected location of the at least one underground facility and/or the at least one physical locate mark;   D) based at least in part on the second information received in C), digitally representing, on the display device, the corrected location so as to generate a corrected electronic visual representation of the locate and/or marking operation; and   E) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing third information relating to the corrected representation of the locate and/or marking operation so as to generate the corrected electronic record of the locate and/or marking operation.