The launch of the updated CROW guideline "Preventing Damage to Cables and Pipelines" today marks a significant step in the effort to further reduce the number of excavation damage incidents in the Netherlands. This took place during the well-attended National Cable and Pipeline Congress 2016 in Nijkerk. The key partners in the supply chain – excavation contractors, grid operators, and subsurface managers – have endorsed the new guideline.
The updated CROW 500 guideline isn't just about the excavation itself, explained author Richard van Ravesteijn during the plenary session. "CROW 500 encompasses the entire project process: from the initiation phase through to the operational phase." The guideline, which offers ample room for innovation, consists of a process section and a knowledge section. The publication's design makes readers aware of everyone's role, responsibilities, and activities to be performed, according to Van Ravesteijn. "Preventing excavation damage is a shared responsibility."
Jan Peters, chairman of the Cable and Pipeline Consultation (KLO), organizer of the conference, wants the number of excavation damage incidents to fall below 25.000 starting in 2018. By comparison, in 2006, when KLO was founded, there were approximately 50.000 excavation damage incidents per year. Peters: "The decline has begun, but saturation is occurring. New products and new incentives are needed to achieve this objective."
Excavation damage is costly, according to Peters. "The direct costs amount to approximately 25 million euros per year, but the indirect damage far exceeds one hundred million euros." Excavation damage not only causes inconvenience and high repair costs, but can also jeopardize people's safety. The explosion in Diemen, which claimed lives, is still fresh in memory and was briefly mentioned.
Jan Peters: "Halving the damage is feasible, but then all parties in the excavation chain must take responsibility. If one party drops out, they spoil the entire chain. Twenty percent of the work has been done, now the remaining 80 percent follows. Preventing excavation damage through collaboration within the chain—that's what it boils down to, in short."
In addition to the revision of the CROW guideline, a new KLIC system will be introduced, with KLIC-online making way for KLIC-WIN. During the plenary session, Herman Waijers, program manager of KLIC-WIN, explained this new system, which aligns with the European INSPIRE guideline. This change will make location data available using vector information.
An amendment to the WION (Underground Network Information Exchange Act) is also planned. All home connections are currently exempt from the WION, but this exemption will be removed in the new law. The new WION is expected to take effect in 2017, says Jos de Groot, Director General for Energy, Telecommunications and Competition at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. De Groot: "I would prefer to see the new law take effect tomorrow, but that's not possible. Reaching compromises takes time. There will be an extensive parliamentary process. It is not known when the bill will be debated in the House of Representatives."
The Radiocommunications Agency, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, monitors compliance with the WION (Dutch National Road Traffic Act). Peter Spijkerman, chief inspector of the Radiocommunications Agency, emphasized at the KLO conference that the agency does more than just monitor. "The government sets the framework, but we also want to engage in dialogue with the excavation sector and contribute our ideas, including in the area of information provision. We share a common interest: reducing the number of excavation damages."
For example, during the conference, the Netherlands Telecom Agency presented a so-called "Keetkaart" (Site Map), a poster with an accompanying app. When a KLIC notification is submitted, the excavator receives area information from the Land Registry. The poster shows the components of this area information, such as supply information, location data, detailed maps, letters from grid operators, contact details, and sketches of house connections. The Keetkaart will eventually be displayed in every site where excavation work is taking place.
Source: KLO
Training: Preventing excavation damage/Locating cables and pipes
Click here for more information: Prevent excavation damage / Locate cables and pipes
