Condition assessment of the surface and buried infrastructure – A proposal for integration

The surface urban transport infrastructures, which are interpreted widely herein to encompass roads, cycle ways, pedestrian areas and railway foundations, are supported by the ground and hence their structural performance is inevitably to some degree controlled by the ground. Since the utility services infrastructure that supports city living is typically buried beneath the surface transport infrastructure, street works activities to install, replace, repair or maintain the utility infrastructure using traditional techniques disrupts, and often significantly damages, the transport infrastructure and the ground on which it bears. As a consequence of this latter argument, the ground and the associated physical infrastructure, whether buried utility service infrastructure or the surface transport infrastructure, exist according to a symbiotic relationship: intervene physically in one and the other is almost inevitably affected in some way, whether immediately or in the future. The physical condition of these assets is therefore of crucial importance in determining what, and how severe, the inevitable impact on each other will be, and the close link between them (i.e. that they are both intimately linked to and to some degree controlled by the ground) must be carefully considered. This paper proposes and discusses the establishment of a universal platform in which the physical infrastructure and the ground, and their conditions, can be mapped

Condition assessment of the buried utility service infrastructure

An extensive array of utility networks are buried underneath the ground surface and provide essential services for society’s daily life in terms of water, natural gas, electricity, telecommunications, sewerage, etc. All utilities have a limited service life and it is crucial to assess their condition throughout their life cycles to avoid potential catastrophic failure due to their deterioration. This paper reviews current state-of-the-art technologies for condition assessment of underground utilities (especially water and sewage pipelines) and their advantages and technical challenges for different application areas. Recommendations on how to address these challenges are made and it is highlighted that the system of combined sensor technologies being developed by the Mapping the Underworld (MTU) project may provide a valuable addition to the street works engineer’s armoury in determining the condition of the buried infrastructure. Moreover the ground in which the utility services infrastructure is buried supports the pipes and cables and prevents their permanent or transient displacement under static and dynamic loads, or lateral stress relief associated with adjacent trenching. The ability of the MTU sensing technologies to determine also the condition of the ground is thus equally relevant and is discussed