As JULIE, Inc., marks 45 years of damage prevention, the Illinois One-Call System reminds professional excavators and homeowners about the importance of calling 811 toll free before starting any type of digging project. This is a free service.

With more than 1,940 members and 100 employees, JULIE stresses the importance of calling 811 or entering a locate request online before any type of digging project, regardless of the depth or size, an promotes safe digging practices in Illinois.

"In addition to celebrating our anniversary, Aug. 11 served as a natural reminder to call JULIE at 811 to avoid personal injury and repair costs, and to keep communities free of utility damage and inconvenient outages," Kevin Chmura, JULIE's director of public relations, said.

Common examples of projects that require contacting JULIE before digging include putting up fences or installing swing sets. When homeowners and contractors call either 811 or 800-892-0123, they will speak with a call center agent who will take the location and description of the project site and notify impacted member facility owners and operators. Within two business days, members will send a professional locator to mark the approximate location of their underground utility lines with small color-code flags.

Based in Joliet and covering the entire state of Illinois, excluding the city of Chicago, JULIE annually receives 1.5 million locate requests. Its annual call volume makes it one of the largest industry one-call centers in the nation.

For more information, go to illinois1call.com.