EXPERT VIEW: The UK’s buried problems

“To upgrade and protect the nation’s infrastructure effectively it is essential to have a digital understanding on what’s beneath our feet.”

In 2012, when Hurricane Sandy was heading for New York City, one person had already identified that the predicted water surge in the harbour would hit the city’s infrastructure hard. Alan Leidner, a US government consultant who identifies potential threats and vulnerabilities to the nation’s vital infrastructure, warned the local response community and utility companies to prepare.

However, the incoming water breached the barriers set up around East 13th Street’s substation, and the flooding left large parts of New York, including critical buildings such as hospitals whose backup generators failed, without power for three days.

I recently had the chance to meet Leidner at our Geovation hub in London, under his direction, New York now has the world’s most complex underground digital map, a mixture of publicly and privately-owned assets. Leidner is convinced that had this map existed before Hurricane Sandy, shared and referenced by multiple players, the situation of East 13th Street could have been avoided.

Not only will this new map help to keep New York running through improved planning whenever the next adversity strikes, but it also has other significant uses.

Leidner told me the map will improve public safety and emergency responses, help officials better manage rapid growth, and aid the building of “smart cities”.

A similar project is happening in Bahrain, where Ordnance Survey (OS) is working with Bahraini ministries to study the current management of underground utilities. OS will also deliver a roadmap for future precise positioning and the location recording of the nation’s underground utility assets. This is part of Bahrain’s 2030 vision for the continued and sustainable development of the economy and society.

Yet the UK is falling behind. Much of our underground infrastructure is Victorian, and unlike New York, there is no digitally mature understanding of what lies beneath our feet.

Tellingly, last year the Institute of Chartered Engineers said no UK Infrastructure has been rated “fit for future”. In 2013 HM Treasury identified the need for a more efficient, sustainable utility infrastructure to cope with a population growth expected to hit 73 million by 2025, or risk costing the national economy up to £90 billion a year. The industry is starting to wake up to the challenge, and better digital maturity can help.

OS is working with the Open Geospatial Consortium and industry partners on numerous pilot schemes, but ultimately all players need to come together to create an underground map that will benefit the nation, its people and the organisations responsible for maintaining that infrastructure.

Visit: os.uk/utilityweek