Well a bit of common sense wouldn't go a miss. With a lump of steel so close to a column, further excavation should have been carried out. You don't just go disc cutting buried lumps of metal.
The example in my image was used as services in the pavement being in the way. No other front/back pavement positioning was possible, and of course, left/right repositioning may not be possible if the services run along the pavement.
With increasing pressure to prevent traffic delays by road works, services are increasingly being relocated to pavements. The only exception being main sewer pipes which are physically too big. The problem is only going to get worse in the future as everything gets "wired".
Offset root columns are nothing new as shown in this 1958
Stanton 8F catalogue. Better training, education and awareness as a result of this tragic case will hopefully prevent a reoccurrence in the future.