Tracking Utility Conflicts

Created OnSeptember 30, 2024

Last Updated OnDecember 2, 2024

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Contents

7. KYTC Reference Documentation

8. See Also

1. Introduction

This article summarizes the 3WH training webinar on tracking and managing utility conflicts. The article presents tools and techniques that can be used to coordinate utility conflicts throughout project development.

2. What

In order of preference, the goals of utility conflict management (UM) are:

Avoid — If possible, design the project to avoid conflict with the utility.
Minimize — If the project’s design cannot be modified to avoid the utility, take steps to minimize these impacts.
Mitigate — Once steps have been taken to avoid and minimize impacts, conflicts can be mitigated by relocating the utility.

The Utility Conflict Matrix (UCM) is collaborative tool developed by the Utilities and Rails Branch to:

Identify,
Organize,
Analyze,
Track,
Manage, and
Mitigate

conflicts with existing utilities.

The UCM tracks the following information:

Utility Conflict Data
- Utility location, type, and ownership
- Identification of potential utility conflicts
- Confirmation of conflict with some project feature

Utility Resolution Data
- Alternative proposals to resolve the conflict
- Analysis of alternative resolutions
- Selection of a resolution

3. Why

The UCM was first conceptualized in SHRP 2 Report S2-R15B-RW-1 (Identification of Utility Conflicts and Solutions). The report contained two critical recommendations. First, it suggested a UCM:

Identify utility conflicts
Include control dates
Environmental implications
Update regularly
Start during preliminary design
Use document management system
Involve stakeholders

The report also encouraged agencies to develop a utility conflict data model and database. Based on this recommendation, KYTC created the Kentucky Utility and Rail Tracking System (KURTS).

The research report Integration of Utility Engineering, Coordination, and Highway Design (Sturgill et al. 2014) provided several recommendations for performing utility management. This report catalogued sources of major utility relocation delays and explored primary reasons for each. It also identified several types of delays that can be mitigated by early utility management via the use of a UCM (starred items in the figure below):

Primary Reasons and Responsible Party for Major Delays at KYTC
		Major Delays	Responsible Party	Cited by KYTC or Utilities	Number of Interviewees Agreed On
	1	Inadequate financial budget and personnel resources.	Both	Both	5
	2	Utility companies would not be notified early when plan changes are made by KYTC.	KYTC	Utilities	2
	3	Project design changes required changes to utility relocation.	KYTC Both	Both Utilities	4 3
	4	Poor control on big projects, especially coordination, it time consuming.	Both	Utilities	1
	4	Long process of ROW acquisition.	KYTC	Utilities	4
	5	Relocations that have been avoided during the design phase.	KYTC	Both	3
	6	Involving utilities late in the design phase.	KYTC	Utilities	3
	7	Contract controversy.	Both	Utilities	2
	8	Material acquisition and equipment procurement.	Utilities	Utilities	3
	9	Damages to existing facilities delay other relocation.	Utilities	Utilities	1
	10	Lack of communication between KYTC and Utilities.	Both	Both	2
	11	Limitations on utility design consultant capacity.	KYTC	Utilities	1
	12	Short time frame for state transportations to plan and design the projects.	KYTC	KYTC	1
	13	Utility companies giving low priority to utility relocation.	Utilities	KYTC	1
	14	Rework required/change orders.	Both	Utilities	1
	15	Severe weather events.	N/A	N/A	1
	16	Some services are not clearly clarified in the contract. Or sometimes some information is missed and leads to utilities are misallocated.	Both	Utilities	1
= Items resolved with early and consistent UM and UCM

Source: Sturgill et al. (2014)

The report lists the benefits incorporating a UCM into utility management:

Improves utility coordination
Organizes information
Helps implement subsurface utility engineering (SUE) to avoid and minimize conflicts
Helps designers make decisions that can avoid utility impacts
Strengthens partnerships
Encourages collaboration between:
- Utility staff
- Design team
- Utility Companies
Project cost savings
Shorter project schedules
Fewer project impacts

While all projects can benefit from implementing UCM concepts, projects that can potentially see the most significant benefits include:

Projects in urban settings
Projects that have dense, complex, or costly utility facilities
Projects with a lengthy project development process

4. Where

KYTC’s UCM is accessible via KURTS and can be viewed in several formats:

Tabular
By individual conflict
Spatial

Several contributors can add and/or review information:

Utility staff
Design staff
Project management staff

The UCM is found in KURTS under the Coordination Tab:

Once a user clicks the Conflict Matrix button, the Conflict Management screen appears, as shown below.

The Conflict Management screen has a project map that indicates conflict locations. Conflicts are color coded to match the APWA national standard for utility color coding. Symbols represent the type of conflict as described in Section 5.

The web-based KURTS Mobile app can be used on mobile phones and tablets in the field to document the physical location and other information for conflicts or record utility relocation inspection data.

5. How

Once you have entered the Conflict Management screen by clicking the conflict matrix button as shown above, you will have the opportunity to enter a new conflict by clicking the Add New Conflict button as shown below.

This will bring up the KURTS UCM screen for that conflict where the following information will be entered (KURTS Mobile can also be used to enter this data as described later in this section):

Latitude and Longitude
Locations — Descriptive field to further explain location
Type — A drop down field identifying the conflict type:
- Air clearance/air space impact
- Structural impact
- Typical impact
- Work around facilities
- Unknown utility
Type Detail — A drop down field to provide more specific information on the conflict. Options available in this dropdown menu are dependent on the Type selected.
Primary Utility — The utility company primarily involved
Additional Utilities — Any additional utility companies involved
Accuracy of Utility Location — SUE quality level of the location
- QL-A: Locating
- QL-B: Designating
- QL-C: Surveying
- QL-D: Existing Records
Utility Conflict Description — A field used to provide notes
Status — A dropdown field providing the conflict status
- Pending
- Unconfirmed
- Deferred
- Resolved – Relocation
- Resolved – No relocation

The KURTS UCM conflict types are defined as follows:

Air Clearance/Air Space Impact — Impacts to overhead facilities such as clearance below low wire elevations or potential issues with construction equipment (e.g., dump trucks, cranes).
Structural Impact — Utilities that conflict with roadway structures such as bridge piers, storm drainage, or headwalls.
Typical Impact — Typical impacts created by roadway excavation.
Unknown Utility — Utilities that are suspected to be on the job site, but whose exact location, type, and ownership may not be known.
Work Around Facilities — Conflicts with utilities that must not be disturbed, requiring the roadway construction to work around them. Examples include expensive facilities, facilities that require a significant time to move, or facilities cannot be physically moved.

The UCM should be reviewed and updated at every stage of the project and at critical milestones:

After each utility coordination meeting
When new utility information is received
When design/utility decisions are made
Joint Utility Meeting (JUM)
When resolutions need to be managed and/or logged

Sturgill et al. (2014) overlaid the Design and Utility Processes as shown below.

The authors recommended six critical stages where a UCM and other utility conflict management methods should be deployed.

Six critical stages where a UCM and other utility conflict management methods
Stage	Timing	Activities
UCM 1	Preliminary design	First identification of utility conflicts
UCM 2	Early in final design	Perform a detailed survey that catalogues visible utility appurtenances
UCM 3	30% design — When horizontal and vertical alignments are finalized	Collect and verify more detailed information on subsurface utilities Analyze conflict resolution strategies
UCM 4	60% design — When horizontal and vertical alignments as well as drainage design have been established	Perform SUE if needed to determine facility depths and verify conflicts Finalize utility agreements. Some relocations may be underway.
UCM 5	90% design — Completion of final roadway plans, specifications, and cost estimates	Facility relocations may be underway, especially those not integrated into the road project.
UCM 6	Beginning of construction	Facility relocation by roadway contract if necessary Address new utility conflicts that have arisen

On KYTC projects, most utility conflicts involve the following situations:

Interference between facilities and transportation design features (existing or proposed)
Interference between facilities and transportation construction activities or phasing
Interference between planned and existing facilities
Noncompliance of facilities with utility accommodation policies
Noncompliance of facilities with safety regulations

Once the Add New Conflict button is clicked, KURTS allows proposed resolutions to be entered for each conflict. Resolutions fall into one of the following categories:

Utility Centric — A resolution that primarily involves utility company work, such as relocations.
KYTC Centric — A resolution that primarily involves KYTC work, such as a redesign of the project.

Once the classification is selected, KURTS opens another window where users enter more detailed information about each resolution. Resolutions generally involve one of the following actions:

Alter roadway design
- Change horizontal or vertical alignments of the proposed project
Protect-in-place
- Shield or otherwise protect utility facilities so they do not require relocation. This protection may be temporary.
Remove, abandon, or relocate utility facilities
- Consider the cost and schedule impacts
Policy and preference exceptions
- Requires early recognition and scheduling

KURTS mobile can be used to collect conflict data in the field. KURTS mobile:

Uses ArcGIS Field Maps
Can be used on any mobile device, including state-issued or personal iOS or Android devices
Requires the Division of Information Technology to grant users access and assign login info.
Can be downloaded for free
Instantly syncs with the cloud if there is cell service or can be downloaded to work offline and synced later

The interface used to enter conflicts into KURTS Mobile is shown below:

The user selects the conflict type, and the application reads the location from the device. It then opens another window where the user enters pertinent information for the conflict.

All conflict data for a project can be accessed in spreadsheet format by selecting the Download to Excel button.

Red Flag

The UCM is a very useful tool that the Utilities Branch recommends for use on projects with utility conflicts. Information on conflicts, including spatial data, can be shared with the design team to facilitate mitigation .