Posted on September 2, 2024
Every seven seconds someone in Britain digs a hole. That may sound harmless, but beneath the ground lies some 4m km of cables and pipes—enough to go to the moon and back five times. The problem is that no one knows exactly where they are. That means diggers accidentally sever sunken lines, causing power outages or leaks of gas, water or worse; it also makes it harder to guard against hostile attacks. A new initiative aims to help.
Britain is good at maps. Ordnance Survey, a mapping agency, has been a pioneer since the 18th century; few countries can match its MasterMap, which covers every feature above ground larger than a few metres. But until now Britain’s cartographers have shown less interest in what lies below, and that has begun to cause problems. According to the Geospatial Commission, an advisory body, accidental asset strikes happen around 60,000 times a year and cost £2.4bn ($3.1bn). Cutting through a gas pipe can be deadly.
Most pipes and cables are laid by utility companies. In theory they have to tell anyone who wants to dig where the infrastructure is buried. In practice companies’ data is often poor, and they take a long time to share it. Another concern is targeted attacks. The start of the Paris Olympics was almost knocked off track when saboteurs cut fibre-optic cables around France, causing a short-term internet blackout. It is harder to protect vital infrastructure if you don’t know where it is.
All of these factors help to explain the Geospatial Commission’s push to create a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), a digital map of the web of the trenches, cables and pipes that lie beneath Britain. The project began in 2019 as a pilot in London and the north-east of England; it should cover the whole of Britain by the end of 2025, says Chris Chambers, its deputy director.
The register will be voluntary, but some big utility companies like Virgin Media O2 and Thames Water have already signed up. Partly, it is in their interest. If the initiative succeeds, it should reduce costly accidents. Companies would also find it easier to plan new assets—say, where to put an electric vehicle charging point—and respond when there is a problem that needs fixing. But some have legal concerns about sharing data, which may mean new legislation is needed.
Another question is who will have access to the register. The current plan is that it will be open only to asset owners and contractors, not developers, conveyancers or members of the public. The government is mulling widening this. While there are some concerns about security, experts think they can be managed. The Netherlands has a similar register that is available to any member of the public who submits a request and pays around €40 ($44); it has existed for more than 50 years without causing problems.
The new Labour government is likely to be enthusiastic about the project. It has promised reforms to the planning system in order to ramp up housebuilding and enable the biggest-ever expansion of Britain’s electricity grid. The demand for cabling and pipework will only grow, as will the need to know what is already there. Getting Britain building will take time. But it would help if companies knew what they are building on.
