'Mapping the Underworld' research informs new industry standard
The vast network of utility services buried underground is fundamental to the way we live today, however around 4 million holes are dug into UK roads each year resulting in traffic disruption, high costs and wasted man hours. Not only this, inaccurate, incomplete and/or out-of-date information on the existence and location of utility assets poses problems for new construction or rehabilitation works and many projects don't go according to plan. Dr Nicole Metje, School of Civil Engineering, has spent nearly two years as the academic advisor for a dedicated committee working on the development of a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) project, which sought to address some of these challenges.