AUTUMN 2025 DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 45
DRAINAGE & UTILITIES
1,000 kilometres of drainage
pipe a year - national survey
centre hits amazing milestone
Advances in cloud-based digital technologies have enabled the development of a national drainage surveying
centre that has processed data for its 昀椀ve millionth metre of sewer pipe.
Chris Wilde,
Lanes Group Head
of CCTV
The milestone was passed by the
UK’s largest drainage and water
utilities specialist, Lanes Group,
while compiling the report for a
survey carried out at a secondary
school in Greater Manchester.
The 5,000km of survey data
– equivalent to a pipe stretching
from Manchester across the
Atlantic Ocean to Boston in
the United States – have been
processed since the centre
opened in January 2020.
The amazing milestone re昀氀ects
the extraordinary success of
Lanes Group’s national survey
centre, which has grown
continuously since it opened, a
process that shows no sign of
stopping.
The facility began with just two
survey processing technicians. It
now has a team of 14, with more
being recruited, and is thought to
be the largest technical centre of
its kind in Europe.
Chris Wilde, Lanes Group’s
Head of CCTV, has led the
centre’s development from its
conception.
He said: “Our national survey
processing centre is a central
pillar of our business growth
strategy and our pledge of service
excellence to our customers.
“It’s allowing us to deliver
survey data faster than ever
before, while greatly reducing our
carbon footprint, and the carbon
footprints of our customers.
“We can also respond with
greater agility to customer needs,
whether that involves working
on major complex programmes
across multiple sites, or delivering
emergency support whenever it’s
needed.”
If the volume of surveys
processed continues to
accelerate, the centre at Lanes
Group’s operational HQ in Eccles,
Greater Manchester, is predicted
to process the next 昀椀ve million
metres of pipe within the next
three years, not 昀椀ve.
CCTV surveying is the start
and end point for all drainage
projects, which is why Lanes
Group has invested signi昀椀cantly
in the national service, along with
a 昀氀eet of the UK’s most advanced
CCTV survey vans.
The approach, said Chris
Wilde, de昀椀nes the quality of
service the company offers. The
value added by the operation is
being recognised by customers,
he added.
The national centre now
processes all surveys carried out
by Lanes Group’s 20 commercial
depots, and on behalf of many
the UK’s largest water companies,
including Thames Water, Severn
Trent, Southern Water, and
Yorkshire Water, as well as
Transport for London: Lanes
Group is TfL’s drainage partner
for the London Underground.
The onboarding of so many
new customers is growing the
centre’s output month-by-month.
For example, data for 111,192
metres of pipe was processed in
August 2025, 27% more than in
August 2024.
Survey data is sent to the centre
directly from work sites, via the
cloud, allowing its technical
specialists to quickly get to work
creating 昀椀nal reports.
Every team member holds
OS19X and OS21X CCTV
industry certi昀椀cations, while some
are also quali昀椀ed to the higher
OS23X standard. Lanes Group
also plans to participate in the
pilot for a new, more advanced
OS26X standard.
Chris Wilde and his team also
manage all technical training for
the company’s CCTV operators
nationwide, and the selection,
purchase, and maintenance of
all surveying equipment and
software.
The integration of these roles is
further developing the ef昀椀ciency
and effectiveness of Lanes
Group’s surveying service, said
Chris Wilde.
He added: “We can quickly put
together teams of 昀椀eld operatives
and national centre technicians
with precisely the right mixes of
skills and sector awareness.
“Our customers love the
speed and agility with which we
can respond to service needs,
including mobilisation of large
wastewater contracts, while
driving up the service reliability
and sustainability of our CCTV
van 昀氀eet.”
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL AUTUMN 2025
45
