Environmental Monitoring

We are routinely requested to provide environmental and geotechnical monitoring services as part of site investigations or as a standalone service for clients including developers, consultants and contractors.

Environmental Monitoring Services

Monitoring of environmental criteria is often required to assess the potential impact of contaminated soils or groundwater, ground gases, volatile organic compounds, leachate on a proposed development (including infrastructure, construction workers and end users), neighbouring land or the wider environment.

Installation of ground gas groundwater monitoring points are completed by use of our in-house drilling services and are constructed in accordance with best guidance procedures and guidance established by the Environment Agency and United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Our staff are all experienced in obtaining samples for subsequent laboratory chemical or geotechnical testing together with the use of monitoring devices for in-situ measurement of many important environmental parameters. Equipment is regularly calibrated by use of standards or external organisations with data interpreted by experienced staff, always in conjunction with other ground information.

As part of construction or remediation projects we also offer monitoring of dust concentrations or asbestos fibres via static stations or by use of active sampling devices.

Equipment that we regularly use for Environmental Monitoring includes the following:

  • Gas Flux Boxes for measurement of gas flux per unit area.
  • Infra-Red Gas Analyser for bulk ground gases (methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen) and flow rate
  • Photo-Ionisation Detector for Volatile Organic Compounds, e.g. benzene, trichloroethylene
  • In-situ Gas Clams for continuous monitoring of ground gas concentrations, borehole pressure, temperature, water level, relative pressure and derivation of gas flux after purging.
  • Electronic dipmeter for water level measurement
  • Vibration meters for measurement of ground acceleration e.g. during piling or compaction operations.
  • Dust and asbestos samplers
  • Geotechnical Monitoring & Testing

Many projects require an element of geotechnical monitoring or field testing to allow for measurement of soil displacements, settlement, heave or assess geotechnical design parameters. Our staff have extensive experience in the design, installation, monitoring and interpretation of a wide range of geotechnical instrument’s and field tests including:

environmental monitoring services

Environmental Monitoring Services

Monitoring

  • Monitoring pins for measurement of settlement or heave in fill materials
  • Skip load testing for measurement of induced total and differential settlement on fill materials
  • Spider magnets for measurement of settlement along a borehole profile
  • Inclinometers for measurement of soil profile displacement
  • Vibrating wire piezometers and simple standpipes
  • Shape Cell Arrays for measurement of slope instability or settlement

Testing

  • Plate load bearing test for determination of CBR value
  • Vane testing for approximation of undrained shear strength
  • Soakway infiltration testing in accordance with BRE Digest 365
  • Dynamic Cone Penetration testing for determination of CBR value