Underground mapping News & views

Since the start of 2008, more than 40 utility firms have been fined over £8.5 million for delays caused by overrunning work under a Government scheme to give councils greater control over street works in their boroughs. The maximum fine a local authority could charge at that time was £2,500 per day.

Now in 2010 the UK government wants to increase the potential for these fines to £25,000 per day in an effort to minimise road works undertaken by utility companies and thereby reduce disruption to road users.

According to reports in the national press it reflects the Government's growing impatience with the havoc wrought in towns and cities by contractors working on behalf of utility companies.

"Each year road works costs our country over £4 billion - this is unacceptable and unaffordable," said Sadiq Khan who became a transport minister at the last government reshuffle.   "Some contractors are showing a blatant disregard for the needs of road users which is why I am proposing to increase the maximum fines for utility companies who let their works overrun." 

"Everything is on the table, I want a cultural change. I am ready to push up fines tenfold or introduce a lane rental scheme," Mr. Khan is reported to have told the Daily Telegraph.

Mr. Khan has called a summit of utility companies and road user groups and he warned that he was ready to take more draconian measures if he felt they were necessary.

The Government is also looking at changes which would see local authorities who are notified by one utility company of a need to undertake works, offering others the opportunity to follow while the road was already dug up. If they did not take up the offer, they could have to wait at least another 12 months before they could excavate in that road. 

Rosemary Beales, director of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, said: “Technology already exists to minimise disruption so we can do much of the work without digging the roads up.   Much of this would be stopped if there was better co-ordination between utility companies and local authorities and also more accurate mapping of what lies below the surface, which can throw up unwelcome problems.”

Professional contractors appear to agree with this statement as they increasingly embrace the use of underground mapping as a standard procedure.  At the planning stage they can shorten the duration of road works and therefore the disruption that these can cause.  Quality utility mapping will allow the contractor to ensure the correct tools and manpower are on site at the right time, thereby reducing working time required and avoiding unexpected surprises occurring. 

With fines of £25,000 per day being muted, underground utility mapping is a very cheap option to deploy prior to starting site works as a great deal of roadway could be surveyed for a fraction of a potential single day’s penalty fee rather than filling the coffers of the local authorities due to overrunning.

If even half of the £8.5million pounds that was levied in fines under the old scheme (which could now turn into £80million under these proposals in 2010) was diverted to mapping and preplanning the work in the roadway, then the contractor, utility, motorist and local authorities would all see a benefit in less congestion, shorter street work durations, safer on site excavations and fewer exploratory trail pits in our towns and cities.  A win-win situation for all.