[ad_1]
Underground mapping is now widely recognized as a critical aid to the effective management of underground utilities. Also known as underground utility engineering (SUE) surveying involves the mapping of underground utilities such as sewer lines, power lines and so on. The subterranean world demands as much demand to be included in the world of mapping as the visible above-ground world.
The growing importance of underground surface mapping
Today, with the growth of municipal utilities and the expansion of urban facilities, the need for accurate visual representation of underground utilities has received much recognition. The importance of SUE research cannot be overstated. It has strategic importance for both businesses and municipalities as both need to have an accurate map of underground utilities in order for any construction or excavation project to be carried out safely and efficiently.
We are constantly witnessing several innovations developing in this area. Austin, Texas-based 4M Analytics is one such underground infrastructure mapping company that offers innovative mapping solutions for all underground infrastructure.
4M Analytics CEO and co-founder Itzik Malka and his team have developed a technology-driven mapping engine that centralizes all sources of utility data necessary for engineers to identify and determine underground utilities early in the life cycle of any project to reduce project time and rapidly mitigate potential risks.
Historic federal funding of the US infrastructure sector
The IIJA Act (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) was passed in 2021, bringing a historic amount of federal funding commitments to the infrastructure sector in the US. A new road map has now developed in the US as a result of such increased federal funding opportunities.
4M Analytics CEO and co-founder Itzik Malka told Geospatial World: “The current nature of the construction industry is to rely on project-based contracts with too many phases, too many hard-copy files and unstructured data sources” and this has led to “over-reliance to human judgment and highly personalized experience and expertise”.
The entire construction industry here in the US is now poised for innovation and transformation with historic federal funding. The adoption of digital innovations is recognized as a key element to be achieved for the desired infrastructure transformation.
“Over the next few years, the technology adoption challenge will be solved by having technology-enhanced conversations through data analytics and products that capture the reality of digital workflows.” We are entering an era of digitization, data analytics and data-driven tools, which will increase our ability to use resources intelligently by supporting transparency, trust and continuity,” said Malka.
One of the challenges anticipated in adopting the innovations needed to rejuvenate America’s infrastructure sector is the challenge of labor shortages. Continued technological innovations leading to the provision of greater technological support to reduce human dependency are welcome to accelerate infrastructure improvement projects.
“We are in the midst of a critical period for construction and infrastructure — thanks to increased federal and private investment.” Significant industry growth is expected. However, the challenge for capacity will remain, with the current lack of manpower”, Malka believes. He said “4Map is an industry ally in times like these as the solution enables reliable data collection and allows other parts of the pre-construction phase to be done remotely at an unprecedented scale and significantly reducing costs.”
BIM and Digital Twin technology are gaining importance in the infrastructure sector
New technologies gaining momentum in the infrastructure sector is the adoption of BIM (Building Information Modelling) and digital twin technology to ensure more productive and efficient industrial practices. This growing industry practice Malka highlighted when he said “BIM and Digital Twin technology will move reality capture and monitoring to new heights for our industry. Adopting these technologies will only help construction companies be more competitive, as well as increase their productivity, capacity and profitability. We will see more products provide ways to support decision-making that will be key to mitigating labor shortages and trying to address capacity issues.”
Mapping of underground utilities
4M Analytics’ flagship product 4Map can locate underground utilities such as oil and gas, telecommunication lines and so on. 4Map is a digital map that shows the location of all overhead and underground utility services. The platform pulls data from multiple places, then digitizes it, streamlines it, and makes it visible and usable for engineers, contractors, owners, and service providers. This kind of mapping exercise helps in three key areas of implementation — “utility coordination, utility management and utility risk reduction,” says Itzik.
“With 4Map, there is now a direct – and critically needed – view of centralizing utility data from different types of pipelines. We have been proactively mapping Texas and will soon launch California,” Malka said. He added that they “plan to launch in New York, Florida and Colorado by the end of 2023 and we are currently providing maps to our customers across the country on a map as a service mode.”
Contribution of utility data to the construction industry
Various utility networks such as electricity, gas, water, sewerage are literally the lifeline of every community. Therefore, their mapping and data collection is strategically very important for the smooth functioning of any place.
“Utility data doesn’t start out perfect, so it should always be questioned or challenged,” Malka pointed out. “That means we have to work with the data we disagree on, find errors and flaws, and ultimately improve the data so that it has value and we can all use it,” he said.
Subsurface mapping is therefore an integral part of sound construction and plays a key role in ensuring that all infrastructure projects are implemented based on the most accurate and reliable information available.
The hidden value of underground mapping
“Unlocking the hidden value of subsoil will allow construction professionals to make the most informed decision quickly and safely.” This is because we are now beginning to face the consequences of what we have built underground. “In many areas, we have turned the underground surface of the earth into a huge maze of utilities, but we have never recorded the locations of underground utilities that affect the industry’s ability to monitor what is below us,” Malka said. “Up to this point, we’ve never made a map,” he said, adding that “when we bury things without mapping their location, they turn into risk factors that affect us for decades, if not more.”
Advances in subsurface exploration and mapping will continue to run smoothly with the continued expansion of urban utilities, and their contribution to driving better-informed decisions will surely grow over time to steadily mitigate such risk factors.
Also read: The Geospatial Collective: Facilitating Data Convergence
[ad_2]
Source link
