Geotechnical and Contaminated Land Assessments
Geotechnical Assessments
Geotechnical assessment may be required to assist design of foundations, drainage (soakaways or drainage fields), pavements, retaining structures and slopes, and are commonly a requirement of design engineers and/or architects. Geotechnical assessments are also undertaken to assist assessment of risk posed by mines and cavities.
Geotechnical assessment is also a common requirement of Building Control and warrantors.
Local Planning Authorities may also require a geotechnical assessment to discharge planning conditions if they have a specific concern about land stability (e.g. slopes or mines) at a site. Our geotechnical assessment reports are also used to support basement impact assessments.
Our experienced team can provide advice on:
- Foundation bearing capacity
- Pile capacity
- Ground floors
- Retaining structures
- Road pavements
- Infiltration rates (for soakaway design)
- Groundwater control
- Earthworks
- Slope stability analysis (both soil and rock slopes)
- Engineering geological modelling
Ground Contamination Assessments
As government policy drives development of brownfield sites, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires Local Planning Authorities to ensure that sites are properly assessed so they are suitable for their proposed end use and that:
"adequate site investigation information, prepared by a competent person, is available to inform these assessments." (NPPF, 183c)
This requirement is normally incorporated into planning conditions for the site at the request of the Local Authority or the Environment Agency. Building Warrantors and Building Control also have similar requirements.
We have many years of experience in undertaking ground contamination risk assessments for both human health and groundwater. We tailor our ground investigations to optimise information collection by targeting potential sources of contamination highlighted by the desk study.
Whatever the history of your site, our team have the knowledge and experience to be able to guide you through the process, including advice on preparing remediation strategies and verifying remedial works.
We also assess levels of contaminants within soils to provide indicative assessment of their likely waste classification and compliance with waste acceptance criteria (WAC) as well as to support water supply pipe risk assessments.
Ground contamination assessments can also be undertaken to support development of materials management plans.
