Laser Scanning the WW1 Arras Tunnels

Richard Hemi, from the University of Otago School of Surveying, illustrates the scanning work and underground environment, as well as the benefits and practicality of using a modern surveying technology in creating a permanent and virtually accessible 3D record of this New Zealand contribution to the war in France.

Engaged in underground warfare near Arras in Northern France, men of the WWI NZ Engineers Tunneling Company (NZETC) distinguished themselves by connecting a series of abandoned underground quarries found beneath the town. Their subterranean network allowed Allied soldiers to pass safely from the town centre of Arras to the front-line trenches in the lead up to the Battle of Arras in April 1917.

The LiDARRAS project was a bilateral project to survey and scan the underground network that involved surveying students and academics from New Zealand and France.