Locating and Monitoring Buried Assets Using RFID

Decade after decade of expansion in urban areas has meant that underground infrastructure has descended into what can only be described as a labyrinth: the myriad of phones lines, electricity cables, gas pipes, cable TV, fibre-optics, traffic signal wiring, street lighting, circuits, drainage and flood control facilities, water mains and sewage pipes, to name but a few. In places, there is a lack of space available under the surface within which to accommodate all of these services, and as such it creates significant potential for underground `space competition'. Additionally, the problem is aggravated by the de-regulation of utility services where multiple service providers seek to place their networks underground. These and more problems arise through the lack of accurate and precise monitoring of buried assets. Given that the scale of the problem associated with locating underground infrastructure and associated systems is enormous, the research discussed in this paper sets the scene for the drivers of improvements in the current unsatisfactory buried assets location and condition monitoring methods. It also presents a new IT locating approach based on RFID technology, which may be able to overcome problems concerning buried assets location.