Underground pipes register hits the road

The government has unveiled a new digital map of underground mains and other assets that will “improve the efficiency with which we supply essential services and it will minimise the disruption experienced by other road users.”

The first stages of the project – the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) – contains data from more than 70 public and private sector organisations who own pipes and cables in three areas: North East England, Wales and London They include all of the major energy and water providers as well as smaller providers of these services, telecommunications companies, transport organisations and local authorities. Data from a further 100 organisations to be deployed according to the government’s Geospatial Commission.

Underground asset owners in those areas will have access to the register to complement their current business practices initially. It will, according to the government’s Geospatial Commission, enable users to plan for future adoption and provide valuable feedback to enhance the service further.

The NUAR project first emerged from an Ordnance Survey- led design sprint at Northumbrian Water’s annual Innovation Festival in 2018.

Geospatial Commission independent commissioner, Dr Steve Unger, said: "This first release of NUAR is a major milestone in a programme that will benefit everyone. By using the power of location data to plan and deliver street-works more effectively, it will improve the efficiency with which we supply essential services and it will minimise the disruption experienced by other road users. We are delighted by the number of asset owners that have recognised the value of working with us, to make the data that they hold more accessible.

I urge any asset owner that is not yet engaging with us to do so as soon as possible, to start benefiting from the service and ensure it best meets their needs.”

The commission anticipates that once NUAR is fully operational across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it will “improve efficiencies in construction and development, reduce disruption to the public and businesses from extended road closures and congestion, improve workers’ safety and is envisaged to deliver at least £350 million economic growth per year.”

The government estimate that there are some 4m kilometres of buried pipes and cables in the UK, and a hole is dug every seven seconds to install, fix, maintain or repair them assets. And that digging causes some 60,000 accidental strikes a year resulting in about £2.4bn-worth of economic cost, putting workers’ lives at risk and disrupting everyone’s day-to-day lives.

Meanwhile there are 650+ asset owners across the public and private sectors – including energy, water and telecommunication companies – who are all required by law to share their data on their own assets, for “safe digging.” But there is no standardised method to do this with multiple organisations having to be contacted for each dig, providing information in varied formats, scales, quality and on different timelines resulting in a complex process for installing, maintaining, operating and repairing buried assets.

NUAR ultimately will operate across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland already benefits from a system of this kind.

Following a competitive procurement round, the Geospatial Commission appointed Atkins to deliver the ‘build phase’ of NUAR. Atkins are working with Ordnance Survey, 1Spatial, GeoPlace and the Greater London Authority.