Skip to main content

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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • IBI’s Routemapper charts new territory with Highways England
    September 14, 2016
    Mapping the asset High-speed data collection just got faster for England’s newly created strategic roads operator Highways England’s establishment as a publicly held company in 2015 created a need for a highly accurate asset inventory. This was potentially very costly and had serious safety implications. As well as its relationships with numerous managing agents and contractors, assets include 35,300km of highway, 12,100km of earthworks, 23,200km of safety fences, 150,000 technology assets and sig
  • Digital Twins Generate Real-World ROI
    June 1, 2022
    Digital Twins Are Going Mainstream in the Transportation Industry
  • A new road maintenance approach developed jointly can improve efficiency
    April 11, 2013
    Innovative road maintenance solutions in Austria. A sophisticated system for managing maintenance tasks has been developed in Austria to meet the specific needs of a highway concession package. Bonaventura Straßenerhaltungs-GmbH is a 100%-owned business of the French company Egis Road Operation S.A., and was founded to provide the road maintenance services of the first Austrian PPP infrastructure project "Ypsilon"(PPP-Ostregion, Paket 1) granted by ASFINAG. The concessionaire won a 30-year contract in 2006
  • Innovative GIS software offerings
    July 18, 2012
    The latest construction software developments can speed the construction process overall, Adrian Greeman reports Construction software is by its very nature a very fast moving technology, with new systems coming to the market almost continuously. There are some key developments however, such as major new product launches and market trends. One of the most important developments in the road design sector is the launch of the Bentley Systems V8i versions of its software, including its road design applications