TSH staff member, Lawrence Arcand, P.Eng., Manager, SUE Services Department, has been appointed to a Canadian Standards Association (CSA) task force. 

This task force is developing standards for the mapping of underground utilities.  Through standardization, the accuracy and reliability of this important data will be improved.

The task force includes representatives from the City of Toronto, Union Gas, and several technology companies.  Mr. Arcand was selected to the task force because of his Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) knowledge and experience and his participation on the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance, as both a member of its board of directors and the chair of its best practices committee.

“Our goal is to create a document that standardizes the way utility information is collected, depicted, stored and used throughout the country,” said Mr. Arcand.  “A utility drawing in Calgary will look the same as a drawing in Toronto.  All utility records will reflect a common platform.  Currently, everyone has different systems, layers, coordinates, languages, etc.  It’s like working in an environment where everyone speaks a different language, making effective communication very difficult.”

Standardization will benefit clients because all their utility records will be compatible and this will simplify planning and communications between all stakeholders. 

The goal of the task force is to produce the utility mapping standards by 2009.