Atkins appointed to deliver national digital map of underground utilities

Atkins – a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group – has been appointed by the UK Government’s Geospatial Commission to help create a digital map of underground pipes and cables which will revolutionise construction and development across the country.

The National Underground Asset Register forms part of the Government’s efforts to build back better and greener and speed up the delivery of housing and infrastructure projects from design to build. Fast and secure access to data will save utilities companies and local authorities time and money, help improve efficiencies in construction and development, reduce disruption, and improve workers’ safety.

Atkins, working with UK mapping agency Ordnance Survey, and global leader in geospatial data management 1Spatial, will deliver the build phase of the project to create a ground-breaking nationwide geospatial platform to view all underground asset data, helping to tackle the £2.4bn in lost value to the economy each year from accidental utility strikes.

Guy Ledger, Digital Director at Atkins, said: “By harnessing technology to enable data sharing, we’re able to transform how we deliver projects and infrastructure by unlocking improvements in safety, certainty and efficiency,”

“We now look forward to working with the Geospatial Commission and partners to develop the National Underground Asset Register – a truly exciting and transformative project for the infrastructure sector.”

The digital map – which will be built over the next three years, starting in the North East of England, Wales and London – adds to Atkins’ portfolio of digitally-driven planning solutions, including the London Planning Data Hub – a real-time planning data service which is accessible to the public.

SourceAtkins

NEWS CATEGORIES

LATEST NEWS

Government agrees to publish faster response to OEP assessment, following pressure from the Environmental Audit Committee

The Government has agreed to accelerate publishing its response to the Office for Environmental Protection’s (OEP) annual assessment report, following pressure from the Environmental...

Environment Secretary Steve Reed champions private investment in nature recovery as the government launches a new call for evidence

Speaking to leading figures from financial institutions, property, retail and sustainability sectors at a roundtable event in London yesterday (12 June 2025), the Environment...

River conditions show importance of ongoing monitoring in Scotland

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is warning that despite rain in most of the country, current river flow monitoring shows sustained local pressure...

ELIQUO HYDROK strengthens executive team with the appointment of Matt Down as joint MD

Matt Down, who has joined leading water engineering solutions company, ELIQUO HYDROK as joint MD, working alongside Peter Wroe, shares his thoughts as to...