Innovative utilities approach

An innovative approach to the management of utilities works is the result of a partnership that has produced the Intelligent Trench. This novel underground mapping solution is also being combined with PelicanCorp's beforeUdig service to deliver a comprehensive and accurate national record-sharing service for underground assets in the UK. The new no-charge service allows local authorities and contractors to use the Intelligent Trench portal to access utility plan information directly from the portal's data b
March 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
An innovative approach to the management of utilities works is the result of a partnership that has produced the Intelligent Trench. This novel underground mapping solution is also being combined with 3178 PelicanCorp's beforeUdig service to deliver a comprehensive and accurate national record-sharing service for underground assets in the UK. The new no-charge service allows local authorities and contractors to use the Intelligent Trench portal to access utility plan information directly from the portal's data base, as well as to initiate utility plan requests for additional plan information through the beforeUdig service.

And the data is available through a one-stop operation. The service provides asset data quickly and efficiently, saving time and money for all stakeholders, helps improve the on-site safety of workers, and protects underground assets from accidental damage. Steve Voller, industry solutions director for 4019 Bentley Systems, representing Intelligent Trench, and Marcus Edwards, managing director of PelicanCorp (UK), have jointly stated that the service has been developed to meet the need for a solution combining direct access to underground asset data using the Intelligent Trench portal and an automated plan request service.

The web portal is based on 2603 Exor technology, which is part of Bentley's AssetWise platform for asset lifecycle management. With this combined service, planners or contractors requiring information about these assets can reduce the time required to source key data. As a result, they reduce their costs and benefit from the timely delivery of the location records they require. Intelligent Trench combines advanced radio frequency identification (RFID) asset marking from 152 3M, field-based GPS data collection software from 4021 Trac-ID, a web portal and Exor spatial asset data base from Bentley Systems, and industry best practices, such as noninvasive surveys, from Infotec. Together, these technologies enable every excavation to be accurately and cost-effectively recorded, photographed, and mapped on a web portal. Access to the stored data is provided free of charge to registered users. PelicanCorp's beforeUdig service enables plan requests to be made from all relevant asset owners. It lets contractors request plans from utilities in a very simple step-by-step process. Once the request has been lodged with beforeUdig, each utility is notified of the intention to dig.
Connected Construction

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bentley Systems expanding through acquisition
    May 14, 2019
    Bentley Systems continues to expand its operations through acquisitions. The firm is now further developing its portfolio with the acquisition of Keynetix, a UK-headquartered provider of cloud-based software for capturing, visualising, modelling, and sharing of geotechnical data. The company says that the addition of Keynetix software expands its geotechnical offerings and allows it to develop subsurface digital twins for infrastructure projects and assets. According to the company, subsurface digital twi
    Read More
  • Machine control technology evolving fast
    February 8, 2012
    The machine control market is evolving fast and is increasingly becoming part of a much wider construction site management concept, Mike Woof reports. Machine control technology has come a long way in the past 20 years and the development of 2D and 3D systems has been rapid in the construction sector.
    Read More
  • Data handling for efficient machine control
    October 16, 2012
    The rapid increase in information availability is transforming the construction sector. Conventional methods used for sourcing geographic data based on maps and localised sampling meant that there was often a lack of accurate information relating to ground conditions at specific areas where work was planned, often resulting in unwelcome surprises for construction companies along with additional costs for projects.
    Read More
  • Accurate utilities detection
    November 26, 2024

    Trimble and Radiodetection are collaborating to improve the technology used in the utility measurement and mapping process. Integrating the Trimble Catalyst DA2 GNSS system and Radiodetection’s RD MapTM+ application and precision locator products helps to streamline utility-locating workflows to provide accurate measurement capabilities and generate underground utilities maps in a single field operation.

    Read More

Highlighted Content