The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will drive significant investment in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure, making it critical that stakeholders utilize the damage prevention system (811) to protect underground utilities in increasingly congested subterranean environments. According to the Common Ground Alliance's (CGA) Damage Information Reporting Tool (DIRT), damages to buried telecommunications and cable utilities account for well over half of all damages to buried infrastructure, and damages to utilities overall have been trending upward, even with construction costs remaining stable. This data suggests a rise in construction spending would result in an increase in damages, bringing the annual cost of excavation-related dig-ins to be well beyond the previously estimated $30 billion. CGA's Next Practices Initiative is identifying new and innovative solutions to increase the efficiency of the U.S. damage prevention system. In this session, CGA will share key damage research, data and case studies illuminating pathways for working with stakeholders to improve damage prevention outcomes.