Road excavations

​Request 858958901

Under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, please provide the current technical specifications, highway policy frameworks, or standard engineering drawings held by the Infrastructure Department regarding utility ducting requirements for road excavations. 

Specifically, I am requesting information that confirms: The standard requirement or policy for installing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or plastic utility ducting networks during major planned road upgrades (such as 'The Big Upgrade' micro-mobility/grid works). 

Any formal guidelines or shared-trench agreements that mandate utilities to lay protective ducting or spare capacity channels to prevent future open-cut road excavations.

Response

All information relating to the current technical specifications, highway policy frameworks, or standard engineering drawings held by the Infrastructure Department regarding utility ducting requirements for road excavations as well as the standard requirement or policy for installing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or plastic utility ducting networks during major planned road upgrades, is exempt under Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as the information is accessible on www.gov.je​ using the links below:

Specification and standard details for highway reinstatements.pdf

Roads​​

There are no formal guidelines, policies, or shared-trench agreements that mandate utility undertakers to install protective ducting or spare-capacity channels to avoid future open-cut road excavations. The design, protection, and installation of utility apparatus remain the responsibility of the relevant utility undertaker. Where the provision of additional ducting, spare capacity, or future-proofing measures is considered beneficial, any such requirements are assessed and agreed on a case-by-case basis as part of the project approval and coordination process. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

Articles applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.