On the streets around town, I see all these codes spray painted on the pavement: ITS, USA, Republic, PCC, CON, P32, P33, P35. What’s it all mean?

Why, it’s a plot to destroy the universe, what else? Just kidding, fellow conspiracy theorists.

Without having looked at any specific locations, Mark Andrilla, senior civil engineer with the city of Napa Public Works Department, offered the following information.

Andrilla said that when contractors want to dig in the street, they first call Underground Service Alert — a firm that provides underground facility damage-prevention services — and give it the location. USA then notifies local utilities that subscribe to the USA service and assigns a ticket number. The contractors mark their name — such as Republic ITS, a California-based electrical contracting and transportation engineering firm, for example — on the pavement. Sometimes they mark the ticket number, too. The utilities visit the site(s) within 48 hours to verify where their underground facilities are located.

Codes appear in different colors. Red denotes electric, orange telecommunications, green sewer (fitting, I’d say!), blue water (fitting again!) and yellow gas.

Andrilla speculated that PCC most likely stood for general Portland cement concrete, and added that it is most likely marked to denote the removal or replacement of concrete. Either that or PCC stands for a contractor whose name he didn’t know, he said.

CON is an easy one to remember: City of Napa.

As far as the P and their accompanying numbers, these are point numbers that relay to a surveyor’s work crew where improvements such as new curbs and gutters would be installed. The surveyor then drives nails into the pavement on an offset line, allowing contractors to work without destroying the surveyor’s marks.

Additionally, arrows and brackets indicate where trenches, holes or any other type of digging and street-tearing will take place.

By all means, enjoy this newfound wisdom. But please don’t forget to look both ways before crossing the street.

(Barry Martin, community outreach coordinator with the city of Napa, contributed to this report).

What is Glad You Asked?

Glad You Asked attempts to answer readers’ questions. Want to be street smart? Send your questions to dmontanez@napanews.com or call me at 256-2224.