The project aims to keep a record of excavations carried out and to document the presence of tree roots, in collaboration with the Conseil permanent des réseaux techniques urbains (CP RTU) from the Centre d'expertise et de recherche en infrastructures urbaines (CERIU) and its members, the Centre for Forest Research (CFR) and the Chaire de recherche sur la forêt urbaine at UQAM.

Every day, in cities across Quebec, excavations are undertaken to install, maintain, or repair underground infrastructure such as water pipes, sewers, telecommunications, electricity, or gas. Tree roots are often present and are expected to become more prevalent in the future, given the growing effort to increase the presence of trees in cities to support the health and well-being of urban residents.

We want to understand how trees and municipal infrastructures — both essential to our bustling urban life — coexist underground.

A first report, produced in collaboration with the CP RTU of CERIU and its members (municipalities and network administrators), revealed a lack of knowledge on this topic. This project aims to address that gap and seeks to disentangle the "urban myth" from fact. We will maintain a registry of excavations to document the presence of tree roots. These data will then be analyzed in conjunction with information on nearby trees, the type of interventions, infrastructure structure, site configuration, and other relevant variables, in order to finally shed more light on this issue.

The Project, funded by the Centre d'expertise et de recherche en infrastructures urbaines (CERIU), will, within approximately two years, allow us to better guide interventions near trees, as well as tree plantings close to infrastructure.