UK’s underground digital twin offers city benefits

The UK’s Geospatial Commission has launched the first phase of the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR), a digital map that is expected to “revolutionise the way we install, maintain, operate and repair the pipes and cables buried beneath our feet.”

It aims to expedite projects like new roads, houses and broadband, and the deployment of infrastructure for electric vehicle charging and flood management.

Over four million holes are dug in the UK each year – many in the wrong place – and the annual economic cost of accidental utility damage is estimated at around £2.4 billion (US$2.98 billion). Unforeseen underground conditions are also a major obstacle to construction and housing projects, especially on previously developed land. In extreme cases, excavators can be injured.

The NUAR Minimum Viable Product (MVP) contains data from public and private sector organisations who own pipes and cables in North East England, Wales and London. This includes the major energy and water providers, as well as smaller providers of these services, telecommunications companies, transport organisations and local authorities.

Engineering firm Atkins has been appointed to deliver the build phase of NUAR. Once fully operational across England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland already has a similar system), the map is expected to deliver at least £350 million in economic benefits per year. This includes savings of £240 million a year from reduced utility strikes, £91 million from reduced costs of sharing data, and £16 million from on-site efficiency improvements for projects.

City role

The Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Infrastructure Team has been a delivery partner to the Geospatial Commission on developing NUAR following pilots in London and the North East in 2018.

London’s Chief Digital Officer Theo Blackwell said NUAR closely aligns with the mayor’s commitment to harness data and emerging technologies for the city, and he sees the benefit for the capital and beyond.

In a blog post last week following an event at City Hall, Blackwell said: “Asset owners in London, and across the country, have limited real-time visibility of one another’s asset types and locations as information is maintained and managed by asset owners independently. Where sharing of data happens, the format and structure of data isn’t standardised, resulting in a lack of consistency between one asset owner’s presentation of their asset information to the next.

“By engaging with ​over ​650 asset owners across the country and standardising the presentation of asset information through a shared data model, NUAR will increase efficiency and safety to excavators when digging on site.”

Benefits

In London, Blackwell said NUAR also contributes to the Connected City pillar of London’s Economic Recovery Framework by minimising road network disruption and is expected to reduce infrastructure project delivery issues and related costs. Utility strike avoidance and onsite efficiency will mean fewer delays and road closures while excavating on London roads.

“[NUAR] should be​ a​ supporting tool for the GLA’s Infrastructure Coordination Service, and we are exploring with the Geospatial Commission the potential expan​sion of​ NUAR’s use cases to include infrastructure coordination,” he said.

As well as advising the Geospatial Commission on the development of the programme more broadly, the GLA has managed the engagement with over 50 asset-owners who make up London’s underground landscape. This includes initial engagement, signing legal agreements, obtaining data and ensuring it is transformed successfully to the NUAR data model before it is loaded to NUAR itself.

“As a strategic body the GLA is well placed to coordinate the many stakeholders and bring them together for a common purpose,” Blackwell said.

He told Cities Today: “The Geospatial Commission hasn’t appointed any other local governments to roll out NUAR across the country, but the GLA works closely with Atkins to share our insights/advice, and we have also spoken with other cities throughout the pilot phase to share learnings.”

In a government press release, Sandy Twynholm, Lead Officer for Business Innovation Information Systems and Administration, Newcastle City Council, said: “Newcastle City Council has been involved in the North East Pilots from the start, and has been impressed with how the project has been designed, managed and coordinated with end users in mind. We have every confidence that tangible benefits can be realised, such as reduction in project downtime due to asset strikes, administration savings and removing reliance on paper maps. We look forward to fully testing the system and to feedback our findings.”