Proactive Underground Cable Protection via LoRaWAN in the Netherlands

P02-LT01 dual-point temperature sensors compare readings at both ends of the conduit, sending anomaly signals over LoRaWAN so maintenance teams can schedule inspection and repair before a fault spreads.

Project Profile

• Region: Netherlands
• Category: Energy
• Products: P02-LT01

Reference Impact

• Two-Point Monitoring — Temperature comparison at both conduit ends (Early warning)
• Pre-Excavation Planning — Anomaly location supports maintenance planning (Fewer emergency repairs)
• Est. 25% — Less reliance on manual inspection (Estimated improvement)

Case Snapshot

Abnormal heat in an underground cable is usually invisible until service is disrupted or a road has to be dug up. That was the constraint facing one underground infrastructure deployment in the Netherlands, where cables run beneath city roads and public infrastructure, out of reach of routine manual inspection. Temperature probes installed at both ends of the conduit, reporting over LoRaWAN, gave operators a way to catch trouble before a fault ever surfaced.

Problem

Trouble Starts Long Before a Fault Shows

Underground telecom and utility cables can develop abnormal heat from load changes, connector degradation, or poor local heat dissipation — changes that almost never leave a visible trace at the surface. When a fault stays hidden until service is disrupted, the maintenance team is left with emergency repair instead of planned work.

Underground cable and utility service contracts often carry penalty clauses for downtime, along with an obligation to explain what happened to downstream customers. When a line does go down, the maintenance team has to show whether the failure was inevitable equipment aging or a missed maintenance window, on top of making the repair. Without a record of the anomaly trend, that explanation holds up poorly in a customer claim or a regulatory review.

Solution

Two Points, One Gap, One Early Alert

P02-LT01 Smart Dual Temperature Sensors were installed with probes at both ends of the conduit, continuously comparing temperature conditions. When the gap between the two points moves beyond the expected range, the system flags it as an anomaly and sends an alert over LoRaWAN to a remote monitoring platform.

The transmitter is built into the road-surface infrastructure itself, so no extra excavation or major disruption is needed just to monitor — a decisive fit for cables running beneath city streets with limited access. Crews no longer wait for a fault to dig and check; they can schedule inspection and repair around the anomaly trend instead.

Value

Repairs Earn a Slot on the Calendar

Repair planning used to start only after something broke. Now it can start while an anomaly is still just a gap on a temperature chart: continuous comparison between the two ends lets teams catch abnormal heating earlier, prioritize the highest-risk sections, and cut back on unnecessary manual inspection routes.

Limited maintenance resources can now go to the sections that actually need them.

Next Step

Provide the underground conduit layout and current inspection process to discuss where dual-point temperature sensing would create the most useful comparison.

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