Cllr. Marie Baker

Question: Councillor M. Baker
“To ask the Chief Executive to explain why a GPR Survey would be carried out in
relation to road works?”
Reply:
GPR stands for Ground Penetrating Radar. This technology provides the location and
depth of underground watermains, gas mains, telecoms ducts etc. It can also
provide indication of the type and density of material under the surface.
When preparing to open the surface of the road for repairs or renovation, it is useful
to be able to compare the data as provided by the GPR survey and service drawings
provided by the utilities.
There are 2 fundamental benefits of this information:
1) it reduces the risk of hitting an underground pipe by mappping the pipes on the
surface in advance of digging. This is in line with Health and Safety requirement to
mitigate risk.
2) it reduces the risk of additional costs which may be incurred if the crews
encounter an ‘unknown’ underground pipe.
Over the past few years GPR has become a standard tool in the procurement,
supervision and management of contracts relating to road works.