Brighton & Hove City Council
Services Supplied on this Project:
- Window sampling
- Hand pitting
- Analysis using portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) equipment
- and UV Fluorescence equipment
- Geotechnical Assessment
- Foundations and Soakaways
- Geo-Environmental Assessment
- Contamination risk assessment for human health and built environment
- Radon gas risk assessment
The Project
Geo-Environmental undertook an investigation on behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council for a proposed redevelopment in Brighton. The proposed small scale development comprised the demolition of an existing structure and replacement with a new building on a similar footprint. The project initially comprised a limited ground investigation to assess the geotechnical parameters of the soils for foundation design and soakage potential. Based on the sites historical usage, there was no reason to suspect any significant contamination, and therefore only limited chemical testing was undertaken. The findings of the investigation revealed a localised area of Benzo(a)pyrene contamination and potentially more widespread Lead contamination with respect to the sites proposed end-use. Geo-Environmental recommended field analysis using portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) equipment and UV Fluorescence equipment to delineate the Lead and Benzo(a)pyrene in-situ.
Expertise
Geo-Environmental’s experienced team with its broad knowledge of investigation techniques was able to advise the client and provide an innovative solution to the problem of delineating contamination.
Benefits
With conventional methods a fixed sampling pattern would have been used and unless the client was prepared to pay a premium for a fast turnaround at the laboratory the results would not have been available for two weeks. The main benefit of using field analysis was that the sampling strategy could be altered and amended as works progressed to aid the delineation of “hot-spots”. This was possible as the results were available to the engineer within 60 seconds. Therefore, the client was provided with significantly better delineation than would have been possible with conventional sampling and laboratory analysis. Furthermore, the rapid technique also has cost benefits as it allowed far more samples to be tested compared to the comparable cost of laboratory analysis on a similar number of samples.