Utility Coring Investigation Services
A major telecommunications company needed to have their reinstatement works throughout the UK reviewed to comply with the requirements set out in the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways (England & Wales) or Roads (Scotland) (SROH/R)
Solution
SOCOTEC UK and Ireland stepped in to provide an ongoing Utility Coring investigation service to check the quality and overall compliance of the completed reinstatement.
SOCOTEC’s New Roads & Streetworks Act (NRSWA) trained operatives visited an independently selected percentage of reinstatement works carried out by the utility provider - or its supply chain - to ensure that all the permanent reinstatement works that they complete will meet compliance.
A core sample was extracted from the bituminous reinstatement, and the core measurements were recorded in compliance with the requirements of BS EN 12697-36:2022. From there, any cores that passed the initial site criteria check were then tested at our UKAS-accredited testing laboratories to ensure compliance with the necessary compaction requirements as set out in Table 10.1 of the SROH/R, by carrying out Air Void testing on the core specimen.
A report was then issued to the client stating whether the reinstatement was compliant with all the requirements of the SROH/R and whether an individual Test Certificate was issued for each core drilled.
Utility Coring Investigation Services
Results
Carrying out compliance checks of reinstatement works completed directly by the client, or works completed on their behalf by their wider supply chain, ensures that the quality and workmanship of these works are kept to a high standard at all times.
For large utility service providers such checks must take place as the quality of their work is key for such a public-facing service, to avoid having to inherit costly site re-visits to correct sub-standard works which could be flagged during other independent testing by, for example, the local authority.
Doing so also helps to avoid negative press or public perception, removing the consensus that there is constant disruption on the roads. SOCOTEC helps to ensure that our clients can arrive in a new area to help provide faster broadband to properties, before leaving the area, having carried out work as neatly and accurately as possible by ‘policing’ their works, which ends up being beneficial to everyone.
Regularly coring the works of external contractors in the supply chain of the client also helps provide reassurance that the work is being carried out to the correct standard – coring can also be used to help highlight where a contractor is consistently completing poor work and can be used as evidence to show findings to them as well.
Carrying out compliance checks of reinstatement works completed directly by the client, or works completed on their behalf by their wider supply chain, ensures that the quality and workmanship of these works are kept to a high standard at all times.
For large utility service providers such checks must take place as the quality of their work is key for such a public-facing service, to avoid having to inherit costly site re-visits to correct sub-standard works which could be flagged during other independent testing by, for example, the local authority.
Doing so also helps to avoid negative press or public perception, removing the consensus that there is constant disruption on the roads. SOCOTEC helps to ensure that our clients can arrive in a new area to help provide faster broadband to properties, before leaving the area, having carried out work as neatly and accurately as possible by ‘policing’ their works, which ends up being beneficial to everyone.
Regularly coring the works of external contractors in the supply chain of the client also helps provide reassurance that the work is being carried out to the correct standard – coring can also be used to help highlight where a contractor is consistently completing poor work and can be used as evidence to show findings to them as well.
Conclusions
SOCOTEC continues to provide ongoing support to our client, to ensure their bituminous reinstatement works are always replaced correctly and in line with the requirements of the SROH/R. Our dedicated team of NRSWA coring technicians visit sites as part of a regular structured coring programme to extrude core samples, before the samples are tested in our UKAS accredited laboratories to ensure the reinstatements also meet the criteria requirements for Air Void %.
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