Earth Environmental – June 2013 News
Earth Environmental & Geotechnical have recently secured a number of contracts involving Phase I Desk Studies, Site Investigations, development of remedial strategies and supervising remediation.
The fact that we are being routinely procured to assess potential new residential and commercial sites for investors and developers suggests to us that we are now moving out of a prolonged period of recession.
The work has involved us working in all parts of the British Isles with a new industrial development in Edinburgh and several new residential developments in Wigan, Devon, Cornwall, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the South East and London.
Notable recent contract wins include;
Wigan
Development of Remedial Strategy and Materials Management plan for a remediation contractor on a residential site where a previous consultant advised for all made ground to be removed offsite as Hazardous Waste. Our staff developed a strategy involving retention of materials on site within a landscaping area beneath a cover system.
Site investigation and ground gas assessment for new residential site previously assessed by a consultant as requiring deep boreholes to assess ground gas regime and use of piled foundations. Our geotechnical knowledge and pragmatic environmental monitoring strategy established that shallow foundations could be adopted without the need for ground gas mitigation measures. The report was submitted to the local authority and relevant conditions discharged within two working days.
Stoke-on-Trent
Development of Phase I Desk Study and Mining Risk Assessment for redevelopment of former community hall for a residential end use.
Winsford
A Phase I Desk Study commissioned for a large national developer has thrown up a few interesting development constraints on a greenfield site. The site is located outside of the Cheshire Brine Subsidence Board Consultation area; however a forensic assessment of historical geological maps, geological memoirs together with aerial geomorphological mapping has shown that a proportion of the site has suffered subsidence in the past 1850-1960’s due to brine pumping.
Future work will involve acquisition of satellite data to assess ground movements over a ten year period and site investigations for foundation design purposes.
Manchester
Negotiations of planning conditions associated with industrial unit developed adjacent to a highly gassing landfill facility. A future phase of work will involve drilling of boreholes, use of downhole in-situ infra-red gas analysers and flame ionisation detector monitoring within building units.
London
Development of remedial strategy for a housing site in London area, on part of a former gas manufacturing site. Previous consultants advised on use of piled foundations, 1000mm thick cover system and second phase of site investigation work to assess contaminated perched water risks to controlled waters. Our staff have developed a scheme using shallow foundations and provided a quantitative risk to controlled waters based upon existing data. A future phase of work will involve construction of a remedial strategy and validation of cover system in garden areas.
A developer faced substantial construction issues on site due to the use of a consultant that conducted a site investigation and used a commercial chemical testing laboratory without formal UKAS accreditation for several tests. As a result we negotiated with the local authority on a proposed scope of work including a Phase I Desk Study and validation of imported cover system. Our staff sourced a reliable source of topsoil and supervised the installation of a 300mm thick cover system in front and rear garden areas. A validation report was produced and accepted within three working days.
