Connecting HS2’s giant land jigsaw

On a rail project the size of the UK’s High Speed 2, identifying people and organisations with legal interests and rights over land required for development is a huge task. Land referencing is the discipline that establishes these interests and rights and applies this data throughout a project’s lifecycle, all the way from initial feasibility stages right through to any disposal of land once construction is complete. While it’s an area that has conventionally employed spreadsheets to manage all the data required, it was clear that mammoth quantities of information for such a vast and complex project called for something more sophisticated. We recognised that the answer lay in developing a cloud-based digital solution that could provide a centralised, single source of the truth. Our purpose-built application, Moata Land Management, integrates geospatial, land ownership and stakeholder information. Because it is web-based, it can be accessed from anywhere by members of the land referencing team, the client and the rest of the supply chain. Land Management was designed to deftly handle hundreds of enquiries at a time, which was brilliantly illustrated at the height of activity when 550 users were uploading or accessing information simultaneously. A core benefit is the enablement of quick reactions to queries and the access needs of specialist suppliers, from environmentalists to archaeologists and surveyors, as well as ground investigation, enabling works and main works contractors. For our Phase 2b involvement on the section from Crewe to Manchester and Wigan, Land Management is an immense repository for 30,000 environmental impact-assessment surveys. The system has also scheduled more than 35,000 surveys and confirmed over 40,000 access arrangements.