Utility Week - authoritative, impartial and essential reading for senior people within utilities, regulators and government
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UTILITY WEEK | 22ND - 28TH SEPTEMBER 2017 | 23 Operations & Assets compressed, so it is at the same pressure as natural gas and is then tested for quality. Finally, an odour is added so it smells like normal gas. Testing also includes a review of the energy composition of the gas. Finally, it is injected into the gas supply network. Roundhill is Severn Trent's second food waste AD plant, following on from the success of the plant in Coleshill, which has been operating since 2015. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paulnewton@ fav-house.com. I n 2012, when Hurricane Sandy was heading for New York City, one person had already identified that the pre- dicted water surge in the har- bour would hit the city's infra- structure hard. Alan Leidner, a US government consultant who identifies potential threats and vulnerabilities to the nation's vital infrastructure, warned the local response community and utility companies to prepare. However, the incoming water breached the barriers set up around East 13th Street's substation, and the flooding le large parts of New York, including critical buildings such as hospitals whose backup generators failed, with- out power for three days. I recently had the chance to meet Leidner at our Geova- tion hub in London, under his direction, New York now has the world's most com- plex underground digital map, a mixture of publicly and privately-owned assets. Leidner is convinced that had this map existed before Hurricane Sandy, shared and referenced by multiple players, the situation of East 13th Street could have been avoided. Not only will this new map help to keep New York running through improved planning whenever the next adversity strikes, but it also has other significant uses. Leidner told me the map will improve public safety and emergency responses, help officials better manage rapid growth, and aid the building of "smart cities". A similar project is hap- pening in Bahrain, where Ordnance Survey (OS) is work- ing with Bahraini ministries to study the current management of underground utilities. OS will also deliver a roadmap for future precise positioning and the location recording of the nation's underground utility assets. This is part of Bahrain's 2030 vision for the continued and sustainable development of the economy and society. Yet the UK is falling behind. Much of our underground infrastructure is Victorian, and unlike New York, there is no digitally mature understanding of what lies beneath our feet. Tellingly, last year the Insti- tute of Chartered Engineers said no UK Infrastructure has been rated "fit for future". In 2013 HM Treasury identified the need for a more efficient, sustainable utility infrastruc- ture to cope with a population growth expected to hit 73 million by 2025, or risk costing the national economy up to £90 billion a year. The industry is starting to wake up to the challenge, and better digital maturity can help. OS is working with the Open Geospatial Consortium and industry partners on numerous pilot schemes, but ultimately all players need to come together to create an underground map that will benefit the nation, its people and the organisations respon- sible for maintaining that infrastructure. Visit: os.uk/utilityweek EXPERT VIEW BEN NDUVA, HEAD OF ENERGY AND INFRASTRUCTURE, ORDNANCE SURVEY The UK's buried problems "To upgrade and protect the nation's infrastructure effectively it is essential to have a digital understanding on what's beneath our feet."