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911 Location markers

YELLOW DOCK SIGNS

The application process to obtain a 911 dock sign creates a link between your dock, common area, land, or island and your street address, or GPS coordinates, if no street address is available.  

The dock signs contain a series of letters and numbers.  The "L" , "O", or "S" refers to the county in which you live -- Louisa, Orange or Spotsylvania.  The letters "U" or "D" tell whether you are Upstream or Downstream from the approximate midpoint of the lake, the Route 208 Bridge.  The three numbers are randomly assigned but are linked to the property's 911 street address.  For example, a sign might read SU503 which means it is above the 208 Bridge in Spotsylvania County.

This information is part of the data base that 911 emergency communications centers use in Louisa and Spotsylvania to pinpoint exact locations on the lake and are included in a reference book provided to all law enforcement and first responders.  In an emergency, if a boater provides the dock sign information, the dispatcher can quickly relay that information to responding agencies both by water and land and reach the emergency more quickly. 

LACA’s Emergency Services & Safety Committee appreciates your interest in obtaining a 911 dock sign for your personal dock, common area, or even an easily viewed spot along an undeveloped waterfront property. (Click the link below.)

Please understand that a critical part of LACA’s dock sign program is handled on a volunteer basis by the Louisa County 911 Emergency Communications Deputy Director who works on applications in addition to his regular work schedule in the 911 call center. It involves verifying GPS coordinates so the dock sign can be linked to your 911 street address in case response needs to happen by road. Your dock sign is a water based 911 address for emergencies on the water.

After that part of the process is done, the application goes to Christina at LKA Signs and Designs in Mineral who fabricates the sign and mails it o you. The process can take up to a month depending on what’s happening in the 911 Communications Center, so we ask for your patience.

Thanks to the dock sign program, 911 call centers in Louisa and Spotsylvania routinely dispatch deputies and EMS, who are patrolling or who can be dispatched on the water, by dock sign numbers. They are your 911 address for water emergencies on Lake Anna. Each member of the Lake Anna Rescue Group (LARG) carries a Dock/Island Sign Map Book on board, which readily identifies where every sign is located

These dock signs have already improved response times in many emergency situations on the lake in the last several years.  Most recently, in April of 2020 there was a tragic drowning on our Lake. Neighbors who happened to witness the accident, gave their dock sign numbers to 911. Emergency units were immediately deployed by water and road based on their dock sign information.

Thank you for participating in this potentially life saving initiative.

The obvious benefit is improved response time to emergencies. The more 911 dock and island signs—the easier it is to dispatch emergency assets to the exact location of the incident.

 Start your dock sign order online now or download and mail this application.


Island Signs

Lake Anna is dotted with numerous islands which are owned by Dominion Energy.  Several of the islands are gathering spots for Lake Anna users who might not know exactly where they are located in case of an emergency.  

To better assist boaters, LACA’s Emergency Services and Safety Committee approached Dominion Energy requesting financial assistance in marking islands.  The company generously agreed to fund the cost of additional signs for its islands around the lake.  These signs serve the same purpose as other location markers and are similar to the yellow aluminum signs with black lettering found on waterfront docks and common areas.  They are designated in a similar fashion with the first letter representing the county:  Louisa, Spotsylvania or Orange. The second letter tells whether you are Upstream or Downstream from the approximate midpoint of the lake, the 208 Bridge; but the island signs are larger than the dock signs and all begin with the number 9.

While Dominion provided the funding, LACA members have volunteered the time and effort to place and maintain these signs.

The island signs are the third major initiative in the Emergency Services and Safety committee’s effort to provide as much information as necessary to first responders in an emergency.  The more markers the quicker the response time for Spotsylvania and Louisa county deputies, emergency units and DGIF Conservation Police who now routinely use these markers to speed their response to calls around the lake.


Bridge Signs

In 2011, the Lake Anna Civic Association took the initiative to mark all Lake Anna bridges with their names and route numbers, displaying the information on large metal signs situated on bridges visible from the lake.  Some bridges display a “Low Clearance” sign to indicate caution should be used when the water level is higher than normal.   Towers, speakers, antennas and biminis are at risk of being damaged at these times.  Contrary Bridge over Contrary Creek and Stubbs Bridge over the Pamunkey Creek are the two on the main lake body and the Elk Creek Bridge is the lowest one on the Waste Heat Treatment Facility.

This effort was funded by Dominion Power, now Dominion Energy, and took a couple of years to implement.  It was the first of several safety initiatives undertaken by LACA in conjunction with Dominion Energy, various law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. 

Bridge names are included on the Lake Anna 911 Emergency maps distributed by the organization’s Emergency Services and Safety Committee.  The goal of these initiatives is to find more efficient ways to locate distressed boaters on the lake.  The map serves as a common point of reference for boaters and all first responders to help identify their position on Lake Anna.

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