British researchers said on Tuesday they hope to produce the first-ever authoritative map of the country’s last uncharted territory: what lies beneath people’s feet.
With the help of utility companies, engineers from the University of Birmingham in central Britain hope to come up with a comprehensive chart of the more than four million kilometres of underground cables and pipes.
As well as discovering exactly what lies where, the map of cables and pipes carrying water, sewage, gas, electricity and telecommunications is aimed at preventing disruption during digging works.
Utility firms dig 1,5-million holes each year in footpaths and highways to install or maintain services, project leader Professor Chris Rogers said, which often risk striking another firm’s pipes or cables.
”We hope that by providing these companies with the means to create a comprehensive map before they dig, that they will be able to carry out their work more efficiently and safely,” Rogers said.
The utility industry spends around £150-million ($265-million) each year repairing damage caused to other companies’ infrastructure during projects.
However, charting the underground services could be difficult because many pipes were laid in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the need to record details of location and depth was less important, Rogers added. – Sapa-AFP