Updated 26-01-2024 at 11:25 with a section on who pays for the repairs.
– Whoa! I must have just dug a cable over there…
Unlucky machine operators on construction work experienced that situation 89 times in 2023 with one of Banedanmark’s many cables. Now there is a prospect that that number will be lower in the future. Banedanmark can now answer a contractor within two hours about what cables they have lying around when a contractor comes with a digging request.
Every cable dug over means train delays or cancellations and repair costs – a nuisance for both Banedanmark, the passengers and the freight transport. And now something is being done about it.
New rules and procedures
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply has for many years registered buried cables in the Cable Register. Now there are new rules and procedures that make it simpler and faster to both register and look up in the register. This means that the cables and cables of all the country’s cable owners can be easily found in digital form for contractors prior to a construction project.
Hoping for fewer incidents
– Banedanmark is a large infrastructure manager, and thus we also have an exceptionally large number of cables and cables lying in the ground. After all, no one digs over cables on purpose, but with various construction projects it can happen – and it affects the train passengers if they hit Banedanmark’s cables. But with the register we hope to reduce the number of buried cables, says area manager of Asset Management in Banedanmark, Brian Vitalis Hougaard.
Answer in two hours
With the new rules for the Cable Register, Banedanmark must now hand over cable data for the exact location within two hours when they receive a digging request from a contractor. And it has been a bit of a task:
– Banedanmark has worked hard to reach the goal before the deadline to get overviews of all our cables added to the database. We have gone through over 25,000 drawings which show where in the ground we have cables. It is important to point out that we do not avoid buried cables 100 percent, but we expect the line owner register to reduce the number of dug over cables – and the associated problems with the railway, explains the area manager.
From 29 to 89 in five years
The number of over dug Banedanmark cables has been steadily increasing over the past five years. In 2019, it happened 29 times, and in 2023 the number had risen to 89 incidents.
– The reason for the increasing number of dug over cables is the many more projects on and along the railway in recent years. It should be mentioned that not all buried cables have had traffic consequences, says Brian Vitalis Hougaard.
The contractor pays
Banedanmark informs FemernReport that Banedanmark will have the cable repaired in the event of an over-digging. The bill is subsequently forwarded in the form of a compensation claim to the unfortunate contractor. Thus, Banedanmark does not cover the cost of repairs.
Facts
About the Cable Register:
- The register of cable owners is a nationwide register of Denmark’s cable owners, who must provide information about the many cables lying in the ground.
- The cable owner register is administered by the Agency for Data Supply and Infrastructure, which is under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Supply.
- With the help of the line owner register, the contractor can obtain adequate information about cables and cables lying in the ground, which they must be aware of before they start digging.
- With the new rules, cable data must be provided within two hours, which is an improvement compared to previously, when the response time was five days.
- For the past three years, Banedanmark has been collecting data for the register. Banedanmark has mapped lines from more than 25,000 drawings.
The development in the number of over digging incidents:
- 2019: 29
- 2020: 45
- 2021: 55
- 2022: 74
- 2023: 89
Source: Banedanmark
