UK cartographers are to attempt to cut down on the number of hold ups on UK roads by compiling the first map of what%27s beneath them. %0D%0A %0D%0AOne of the reasons that the four million annual road excavations take so long and cause so much disruption is that often no one knows what is down there. %0D%0A %0D%0AThis is doubly true for Victorian water sewage and gas supplies and some of the first mains electric cabling. %0D%0A %0D%0AFortunately the map makers will not have to dig up all our roads to find out what is down there but for the first time will compare the many maps and diagrams that exist. %0D%0A %0D%0AThe collated information will be made available to contractors on hand held computers. %0D%0A %0D%0AIt is hoped that the project will cut the average annual %A35 billion cost of congestion caused by excavations which themselves cost %A31 billion every year. %0D%0A %0D%0A%22Reducing road works would bring enormous economic and environmental benefits%22 professor Tony Cohn of Leeds University which is part-running the project told Auto Express. %0D%0A %0D%0AThe plan will also include a project to tag pipes as they are laid so that they can be detected with a radio scanner. %0D%0A%0D%0A