Britain literally stood on its buried treasure

26th August 2016
Source: Geotech
Posted By : Anna Flockett
Britain literally stood on its buried treasure

 

It has been identified in the latest Geovation Challenge that we are literally standing on lucrative business opportunities, and GeoTech entrepreneurs are being invited to take advantage of this and win support and funding for their ideas with a place on the Geovation Programme.

The business opportunities have been identified following consultations with senior figures at utility companies, the owners of underground pipe and cable networks and those responsible for their maintenance, the Geovation team asked ‘what keeps you awake at night?’.

As a result, 55 problem areas have been identified.

Also revealed during this research is how the vast majority of Britain’s underground infrastructure is unknown, has not been properly mapped, and that paper records have not been kept. In the rare instances where paper records have been kept they’ve yet to be digitised.

Viv Alexander, Geovation Challenge producer, said: “As pedestrians and road users we are all familiar with disruptions caused by water companies, or utility companies or telecoms excavating paths and roads.” He continued, “What perhaps is not realised is just how wasteful these digs can be. For instance, 10% are just for exploratory purposes, attempting to locate where actual assets are. It is thought the impact of disruption from these works alone costs Britain around £5.5 billion per year.”

Alexander added: “Earlier this year the Institute of Chartered Engineers said no UK Infrastructure has been rated ‘fit for future’. This is a major concern when you consider this revelation came three years on from the Treasury identifying the need for a more efficient, sustainable utility infrastructure to cope with a predicted population growth that is expected to hit 73 million in 2025, and that the infrastructure needs to meet the standard of other developed economies or risk costing the national economy up to £90 billion a year. Through the Geovation Challenge we want to support entrepreneurs and hook them up to the industry players who quite clearly have very real needs.”

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