Esri demonstrates GIS, 3D and digital‑twin tools for underground mapping and infrastructure planning

Esri’s global infrastructure lead presented GIS applications the board and utilities can use to visualize underground assets, plan new transmission routes and integrate as‑built data into operational systems. Matt Piper, Esri’s global director for industry solutions, described how contemporary GIS moves beyond simple points and lines into integrated 3D network models used across planning, design, operations and emergency response. “GIS is Geospatial Information Systems. Just think of this as a way that everything you do, we put it on a map,” Piper told attendees. Piper cited broad adoption: more than 15,000 utilities globally use Esri technology, he said, with nearly 100% of large U.S. utilities among Esri customers and about 70% market penetration globally. He described a new Utility Network Data Model that encodes network behavior and connectivity, enabling the same dataset to be used by control rooms, protection engineers and field crews. Illustrations included overseas and U.S. projects where 3D mapping supported complex construction: a multikilometer flood‑control tunnel in Lisbon where detailed 3D subsurface models guided construction through dense built areas; mapping and routing optimization to use transportation right‑of‑ways for new transmission corridors; and city‑scale underground registers in Rotterdam and the UK pilot Network Underground Asset Register to improve permit planning and reduce reliance on out‑of‑date maps. Piper said the industry is facing large modernization needs and climate‑driven disaster costs: he cited global infrastructure investment figures and noted the push to place more utility infrastructure underground by 2040 will make accurate subsurface data more critical. Why it matters: Integrated GIS and digital‑twin approaches let utilities and public agencies coordinate new construction, reduce conflicts among underground systems, and speed emergency response by providing shared, spatially accurate data across organizations. Follow‑up: Piper suggested jurisdictions begin with accurate, shareable data capture and consider lightweight GIS templates where enterprise systems are not yet deployed.