There are moments in my life I never want to repeat. Stepping on a sewing needle eye-first is about a zillion of them.

You see, my sisters did a lot of cross-stitch when we were kids. They often did it while sitting on the carpet. And when they were done, sometimes a needle got left on the floor instead of put away. One of those times, my bare foot found the needle before they did.

Can you say OUCH? I think you can. (Especially after the eye broke off, went in, and had to be extracted in the ER.)

Yeah, when something isn’t where you expect it to be, a lot of damage can result.

Like, say, to our LPC electrical vaults.

Not familiar with our vaults? You’ve probably seen them every day without knowing it – those flat textured hatches in the ground that our crews open up when they need to get access to underground power lines. When we first put the vaults in, we made sure to keep them out of harm’s way, which included putting them to one side of any driveways.

Then people started widening their driveways.

Can you say CRUNCH? I think you can.

Our vaults aren’t made to have cars and trucks rolling over them repeatedly. If it happens enough times, their lids crack. And when that happens, the cost of fixing them is on the property owner – about $510 to be exact. (Cracking the lid could also expose your car to the energized equipment inside, which NOBODY wants!)

How do you avoid that? Two ways:

1. Keep an eye out when you go in and out of the driveway and keep from driving over the vault. No cost, so long as you’re always careful.
2. Have us build a concrete ring around the vault that WILL make it safe to drive over. This currently costs $1,390 – so if the lid’s at risk of getting cracked multiple times, it’s worth considering. To go this route, give us a call at 303-651-8386.

Think about it. Make the decision that’s best for you. Either way, now you know what to look out for. You’ve got the point.

And you didn’t even have to have anyone needle you.