Signal tape

An elongated marker tape comprising:

• protective material comprising:
• a top sheet of thermoplastic material having a first predetermined length, a top and a bottom surface, a side edge at each lateral portion of said top sheet, a first predetermined width;
• and,
• a bottom sheet of thermoplastic material having a second predetermined length, a top surface and a bottom surface, a side edge at each lateral portion of said bottom sheet, and a second predetermined width with said first and said second predetermined lengths being approximately equal and with said first and second predetermined widths being approximately equal;
• a stretchable core material having a non-stretched predetermined length and being positioned between said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets, with said stretchable core material being capable of being stretched, without breaking, to approximately 1.2 to 1.5 times its non-stretched predetermined length, said core material having;
• an outer surface,
• a maximum cross-sectional dimension of approximately one inch [or approximately 2.54 cm],
• a predetermined tensile strength of at least 100 lbf [or approximately 445 N] and,
• with said top sheet of thermoplastic material and said bottom sheet of thermoplastic material being laminated together at least at the side edges of said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets and with at least one of said top or bottom sheet of thermoplastic material being laminated to a substantial portion of said outer surface of said core material.

A method of protecting infrastructure buried in soil comprising the steps of:

• providing an elongated marker tape further comprising;
• a protective material comprising a top sheet of thermoplastic material having a first predetermined length and a bottom sheet of thermoplastic material having a second predetermined length approximately equal to said predetermined length of said top sheet of thermoplastic material;
• a generally non-stretchable core material positioned between said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets, said core material having;
• a predetermined length approximately equal to said predetermined length of said top sheet of thermoplastic material,
• a minimum predetermined tensile strength of approximately 6,000 lbf [or approximately 27,000 N], and
• adhesive bonding at least one of the top or bottom sheet of thermoplastic material to said core material and also bonding said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets together;
• burying said elongated marker tape above said buried infrastructure,
• whereby excavation equipment will strike said elongated marker tape before the excavation equipment can strike said buried infrastructure and pull said marker tape to the surface where it becomes visible thereby warning the operators of said excavation equipment of the presence of the buried infrastructure.

A method of protecting infrastructure buried in the soil comprising the steps of:

• providing an elongated marker tape further comprising:
• a protective material comprising a top sheet of thermoplastic material having a first predetermined length, and a bottom sheet of thermoplastic material having a second predetermined length with said first predetermined length being approximately equal to said second predetermined length,
• a generally non-stretchable core material positioned between said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets, said core material having a predetermined length, a minimum predetermined tensile strength of approximately 3,000 lbf [or approximately 13,350 N], said predetermined length of said core material being approximately 1.2 to 1.5 times the predetermined length of said top thermoplastic sheet, with said core material being positioned between said top and said bottom thermoplastic sheets in a waveform pattern, adhesive, bonding at least one of the top or bottom sheet of thermoplastic material to said core material and also bonding said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets together;
• burying said elongated marker tape above said buried infrastructure,
• whereby excavation equipment will strike said elongated marker tape before the excavation equipment can strike said buried infrastructure and pull said elongated marker tape to the surface where it becomes visible thereby warning the operators of said excavation equipment of the presence below grade of the buried infrastructure even when the construction equipment strikes the elongated marker tape in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal extent of the elongated marker tape.

A method of consistently extracting an elongated marker tape from the ground when said elongated marker tape is buried below the ground surface comprising the steps of:

• providing an elongated marker tape further comprising;
• a protective material comprising a top sheet of thermoplastic material having a predetermined length and a bottom sheet of thermoplastic material having a predetermined length approximately equal to said predetermined length of said top sheet of thermoplastic material;
• a generally non-stretchable, strip-like core material positioned between said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets, said core material having a predetermined length, an upper surface, a lower surface, a maximum width of approximately 1 inch [or approximately 2.54 cm], a minimum predetermined tensile strength of approximately 3,000 lbf [or approximately 13,350 N], said predetermined length of said core material being approximately 1.2 to 1.5 times the predetermined length of said top thermoplastic sheet, with said core material being positioned between said top and said bottom thermoplastic sheets in a predetermined waveform pattern;
• and,
• adhesive, bonding at least one of the top or bottom sheet of thermoplastic material to a substantial portion of at least one surface of said core material and also bonding said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets together;
• burying said elongated marker tape below the ground surface,
• whereby, when excavation equipment strikes said elongated marker tape, said elongated marker tape will be pulled to and above the surface where it becomes visible thereby alerting the operators of said construction equipment of the buried marker tape even when the excavation equipment strikes the elongated marker tape in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal extent of the elongated marker tape.

The method of emplacing marker wire and a utility line at the same time in a pullback operation comprising the steps of:

• drilling an underground, borehole using a known directional drilling machine, from a fixed starting position on the surface to a target site near or on the surface but separated from the known starting position by a predetermined distance,
• affixing a utility line to the drilling head at the target in a known manner,
• providing a marker tape comprising a woven fabric tape with Litz wire embedded therein along the longitudinal extent of the tape except for a predetermined portion at one end of the woven fabric tape,
• affixing said marker tape to the drilling heat at the target site by tying said predetermined portion of said marker tape to said drilling head, and
• withdrawing said drilling head back through the borehole to the fixed starting position using a pullback step,
• whereby the utility line is installed in the borehole and the marker tape is also installed in the borehole at the same time during the pullback step.

A method of consistently extracting an elongated marker tape from the ground when said elongated marker tape is buried approximately 12 inches [or approximately 30 cm] below grade comprising the steps of:

• providing an elongated marker tape further comprising;
• a protective material comprising a top sheet of thermoplastic material having a predetermined length and a bottom sheet of thermoplastic material having a predetermined length approximately equal to said predetermined length of said top sheet of thermoplastic material;
• a stretchable core material positioned between said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets, said core material having a predetermined, non-stretched length, an upper surface, a lower surface, a maximum cross-sectional dimension of approximately 1
• inch [or approximately 2.54 cm], a minimum predetermined tensile strength of approximately 3,000 lbf [or approximately 13,300 N], said predetermined, non-stretched, length of said core material being approximately equal to the predetermined length of said top thermoplastic sheet, and
• adhesive, bonding at least one of the top or bottom thermoplastic material to a substantial portion of at least one surface of said core material and also bonding the outer edges of said top and bottom thermoplastic sheets together;
• burying said elongated marker tape approximately 12 inches [or approximately 30 cm] below the ground surface,
• whereby, when excavation equipment strikes said elongated marker tape and said elongated marker tape will be pulled to and above the surface where it becomes visible thereby alerting the operators of said construction equipment of the buried marker tape.