ZoARG | ReDUCE

--- Zorgvuldige Aanleg & Reductie Graafschade ---
-- Reduction of Damage to Utilities & Careful Excavation --

ReDUCE is the initiative that aims to improve design, construction, installation, and maintenance of buried infrastructure in shallow subsurface. The focus of the programme is on Reducing Damage to Utilities and Careful Excavation. The initiative wants to enhance the awareness of the excavation supply-chain regarding the relevance of careful excavation, and additionally involves organizations in developing initiatives that prevent damages to subsurface utilities.  

ReDUCE (the English equivalent to the Dutch acronym ZoARG) is a collaboration between the utility sector and the University of Twente. The collaboration involves research, design, and development of new methods and techniques for excavation. These efforts are instantly valorised by implementing findings in education and (academic and practical) training programmes. 

The ReDUCE programme orginates from the collaboration between utility operator Reggefiber and the University of Twente. Reggefiber had the ambition to professionalize the utility sector by significantly reducing excavation damages. The UTwente department of Construction Management and Engineering conducts research in the domain of subsurface utility construction. Together with Reggefiber, the University of Twente organized the ZoARG symposium in 2013. Here, Reggefiber took the lead and created the 'incentive fund'  that eventually led to an increase of activities and involved partners.