Underground 250ft run

Dusty R wrote:
May not work for everyone.
If I need to find an underground line, I take 2 stiff wires and bend them to "L" shape then hold one in each hand so the long ends are parallel and sticking straight out in front of me. Then walk slowly over the area, and the wires will cross when passing over buried lines.

Witching sticks are fun!
Have located a lot of lines that the locate services didn’t mark with ‘em.

Worth mentioning, in recent years, locate services have gotten much less reliable. (I use/rely on utility locates daily on some projects.). And when the locate outfits screw up or don’t show up, even with due diligence having been performed by the digger or contractor, it is virtually if not wholly impossible to hold the locate companies to any liability following an unmarked utility strike that was appropriately called in.

In essence, even if you do what you’re suppose to before digging (not talking hitting a private service line beyond the scope of Locates responsibility) and tag an unmarked utility, 99.99% of the time it’s on you in the end.
Best I’ve been able to accomplish is proof that a utility mis located (and better have proper and detailed documentation of your locate calls and refreshes If you miss even one refresh deadline before digging, the utility Co washes their hands of it and you pay the repair bill if it involves the utility Co having to make the repair) is not paying the bill. (Gas, power, fiber etc are non negotiable even if you could repair yourself, you’re not allowed to by law with virtually any Franchise utility).
Never have recouped any personal (company ) cost for direct or consequential costs incurred.

And if you do have all your locates and refresh calls 100% within regulations, they generally “can’t verify” and require your proof. Even though if you do miss a refresh date, they have that data or proof of wrongdoing at the ready, to deny your claim.

Considering that the OP has exhibited a sincere lack of knowledge over just proper materials, the risk of additional cost here if self performing is greater….or none at all if there’s no other utilities in the way.