HISTORY OF Alabama 811

Damage to underground facilities increased considerable following the building boom of the 50's, 60's, and early 70's when the trend was to go underground with utilities. Thousands of miles of underground facilities were vulnerable to excavating machines and the resulting damage interrupted utility service, and threatened life, health, and property. As more and more companies placed their facilities underground, the inconvenience of notifying individually all the owners of underground lines became overbearing.

The one-call concept came about in the early 60's in response to the needs of the construction industry as well as the needs of the utilities to protect their underground lines. Instead of calling each company individually, an excavator could make one phone call and reach several utilities. There are approximately 105 one-call notification systems in the U.S. and foreign countries.

The Alabama Line Location Center (ALLC) was established in January, 1975, by South Central Bell, Alabama Power Company, and Alabama Gas Corporation. It initially served the Jefferson/Shelby County area. Over the first year, other area underground facility owners showed an interesting in participating and soon the ALLC had members across the entire state. The first year of state-wide operation, the ALLC processed just over 7,000 locate requests.

From January, 1975, until December, 1987, the ALLC was operated by South Central Bell. Due to the divestiture of AT&T, and court rulings in the wake of that breakup, South Central Bell could no longer operate the one-call center. Alabama Gas Corporation took over the operation in December, 1987.

In October, 1994, the ALLC became an incorporated entity as a nonprofit corporation under the legal name of Alabama Line Location Center, Inc. In January, 1999 Alabama Line Location Center, Inc. began operating under the name of Alabama One Call (AOC). The name change was completed to give the center a name consistent with similar organizations in other states and reduce any confusion with the AOC operating as a contract locating service. Over the years, the membership and volume have continued to grow. During this time the AOC has processed over 5 million locate requests.

In January 2011, as part of the national promotion and awareness of 811, Alabama One Call changed its d/b/a to Alabam 811.