TEXAS
TerraFlow in Texas
Texas has the largest pipeline infrastructure in the nation, about a sixth of all US pipeline mileage, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas. TerraFlow records every locate with its position, depth and GPS accuracy, on the locator and GPS your crews already carry.
Three-stat strip
18 inches (46 cm), plus half the pipe The tolerance zone either side of a pipeline in Texas (16 TAC §18.2). GPS.gov puts a phone's GPS at about 16 feet (4.9 m) (GPS.gov).
Mandatory damage reporting Excavation damage to pipelines is reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas (16 TAC §18.11).
About 1/6 of US pipeline mileage Texas has the largest pipeline infrastructure in the nation (Railroad Commission of Texas).
[Checked 29 Sep 2026: 16 TAC §18.2 defines the pipeline tolerance zone as half the nominal pipe diameter plus a minimum of 18 inches either side. That's the Railroad Commission's rule for pipelines; don't apply it to other utilities without checking Texas Utilities Code Chapter 251.]
Volume hides everything
When your crews are clearing hundreds of tickets a week across DFW or Houston, documentation is the first thing that slips. In Texas a slip gets expensive.
The Railroad Commission requires excavation damage to pipelines to be reported (16 TAC Chapter 18). Operators pass audit pressure down to their contractors. And when there's a strike, the first question is always the same: show us the locate.
A PDF form and two photos don't answer that. A position on every point, with its accuracy recorded, does.
What Texas locate crews get
- The record builds while the ticket gets worked. Position, depth, method, utility type, locator and time on every point.
- The sketch is mostly done before the truck moves. Drawn to scale from the captured points. No wheel, no tape.
- Your own hardware. Radiodetection, Vivax-Metrotech and Rycom locators. Trimble, Eos, Emlid, Juniper and Bad Elf receivers.
- Records in feet and inches. Or metric, if a client asks.
- Ready when someone asks. When the operator, the RRC or an adjuster wants the locate, it's already structured and searchable.
For Texas pipeline operators
Your contractors document locates a dozen different ways. That inconsistency is your exposure in integrity audits, damage claims and RRC reporting.
You don't have to wait for a rule. PHMSA's April 2026 advisory bulletin on excavation damage (ADB-2026-05) asks pipeline operators to build CGA Best Practice 4-11, Accuracy of Locating, into their procedures and to audit locator performance. The pipeline safety reauthorization bill the Senate passed in April 2026 (S. 2975, Sec. 211) lists white-lining, positive response before excavation and newly installed facilities being locatable among the one-call practices it wants states to adopt. It isn't law yet.
Operators who set the record format first choose their own schedule. The rest do it against a deadline.
Built for how Texas works
Texas811 tickets, RRC damage reporting and your operators' own requirements. Workflows are set up to match how the work actually happens here. Reports from the web platform are available in Spanish today, and Spanish in the mobile app is on the way.
Records go from the field to your GIS, or to your operator in the format they ask for, without anyone typing them in again.
Texas questions (FAQPage schema)
Does TerraFlow work with Texas811 tickets? Yes. Every locate is recorded against its Texas811 ticket number, so each point ties back to the original request.
We run mixed hardware across crews. Is that a problem? No. Radiodetection, Vivax-Metrotech and Rycom locators and all the receivers on our supported list work in the same app, producing the same record. Mixed fleets are normal for our customers.
Can our records answer operator and RRC requests? Every record carries position with its accuracy, depth, time, locator and utility details in the same structure. That's what those requests ask for, and what forms and photos can't reliably provide.
How fast can a Texas crew be running? Days, not months. Crews usually work production tickets after about half a day of setup and training on their own equipment.
Closing
Talk to us before construction season peaks.
Fifteen minutes, your hardware, a real Texas ticket. Book a Texas demo