Openreach has taken a significant step forward in supporting the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) by adding detailed location data including ducts, conduits, poles, spans, cabinets and chambers for more than 550,000 kilometres of its network to the platform.
The injection of new data means NUAR, the digital map of underground pipes and cables across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, now covers over 80% of known assets underneath the ground.
In total, NUAR holds detailed information from underground asset owners for an estimated 3.25 million kilometres of pipes, across electricity, gas, water, pipeline operators and telecoms. As work continues with asset owners to capture more data, the platform is edging closer to achieving full coverage for the subterranean network below.
Planners, site supervisors, operational response teams, excavators and other contractors accessing the platform will be able to do their jobs more effectively and safely. It will save significant time, help reduce potential injuries, delays, road closures and disruption, improving the public service and people’s everyday lives.
What is NUAR?
NUAR is a secure, digital map that supports existing safe digging processes. The increased coverage from Openreach will further strengthen the benefits it delivers to telecoms, energy, pipeline, water, transport, local authorities and their contractors.
It gives excavators better access to data and enables safer and more efficient installation, maintenance, operation and repair of buried infrastructure. It increases industry co-ordination, because NUAR is a centralised and secure platform that shares a standardised view of underground asset data on the map. And it increases operational efficiency through instant access to data, reducing multiple requests for information that previously took on average six days to obtain.
Trevor Linney, Networks Director and Openreach spokesperson, said:
“As the UKs largest telecommunications infrastructure provider, we are pleased to have started our NUAR journey. Safety is our number one priority, and today Openreach provides information to other providers needing to dig near our infrastructure. NUAR has the potential to provide the ‘one stop shop’ for users to view everyone’s infrastructure in a consolidated and unified way, helping keep everyone safe and preventing damage and disruption.”
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(Image – GeoPlace)