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Utilities are spending up to £2 billion a year on streetworks, according to new analysis seen by Utility Week.
This has prompted the National Joint Utilities Group (NJUG) to call for greater collaboration to minimise the level of disruption that streetworks cause the public and to help cut costs.
Research commissioned by NJUG and compiled by PA Consulting revealed that in 2014/15 utility companies spent up to an estimated £2 billion on streetworks and engineers spent a collective 6 million days occupying roads in England and Wales.
The report reveals that in the last financial year, utility companies completed a total of 1.5 million works. This excludes the streetworks conducted by highways authorities.
The Department for Transport estimates that road works in total cost the UK economy an estimated £4.3 billion each year, something Gallienne is keen to see reduced.
Writing for Utility Week for a streetworks special report, NJUG chief executive Bob Gallienne said: “It is this statistic that really brings home the need for utilities, contractors and highway authorities to work together to deliver a step change in minimising road occupation and disruption.”
He added that the £2 billion cost of streetworks can also be reduced via collaborative working and “innovative game-changing technologies”.
This view is shared by Paul Mullord, but he also told Utility Week that “huge changes” in working practices are already being made, benefitting both the companies and reducing disruption.
He added: “Some companies are doing things very differently to try and make it a better experience for their customers”.
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