Concrete mini tunneling

[Steve]

Theres a major northern homebuilder building homes nearby, thy have just started the development and have knocked up 3 townhouses (showhomes) and a garage block (offices).

They are installing rectangular concrete tunnel sections under the ground in various places around the site and burying them quite deep. As far as I know there are no watercourses here, though the site was previously a waterworks and slopes downwards to the access road. It was levelled to a gentle gradient before the homebuilder came on site. Do new estates have service tunnels now for electric, gas etc? Or am I barking up the wrong tree? Under the front entrance to the site there are now 3 tunnels across the road. I dont get why so much is needed.

Posted here because it didnt fit anywhere else.

 

[joinerjohn]

Possibly so the road doesn't have to be dug up for access to services in the future.
A road near us was renewed about a year ago. Completely re done (not this top dressing stuff councils are so fond of) Within 3 months Transco came round and dug a trench straight across the road (apparently planned at least a year before) 6 months later Severn Trent had reason to dig another part of the new road surface up.(yet again, supposedly planned work) Within a year the road looks like it's been down 20 yrs with the amount of patches in it.

 

[Steve]

Rotherham MBC recently relaid a road through a small outlying town, and promised that there would be no roadworks for 5 years on the new tarmac apart from emergency repairs. There are people trying to build a new small housing estate with access from this road, I bet they are having a ahrd time connecting to services.

Doncaster MBC recently surface dressed a road through an outlying village, I questionned this, saying the road had only been totally resurfaced 3 years ago, but they replied saying the dressing was to protect the road surface from erosion and the elements. I said the money could be better spent resurfacing a nearby road which is potholed and subsided. You get thrown all over the place on it. Its been repaired hundreds of times. You know the sort.

Anyway, I agree there should be service space under every new road.