25. November 2021

Here in the UK we have a long industrial legacy and for the most part, until about 1990, the energy that fuelled that legacy was coal. The UK has over 50 coalfields ranging from Brora in the north of Scotland to Kent and Bovey Tracey in the south of England, and all areas in-between. Coal is a sedimentary rock that is the product of the geological compaction of organic material (trees, plants etc) in the many deltaic environments that covered the area in (mainly) Carboniferous times (between...

26. October 2021

5 years ago Geo-Integrity Ltd. was set up to provide site investigation, geotechnical and geo-environmental services to clients across Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire, The Cotwolds and beyond. We started in a home office, using the garage as a soil store and logging shed and with my Peugeot estate as the site vehicle. We now have 6 employees, 3 vehicles and rented offices near Towcester. To date we have done over 700 jobs,...

18. October 2021

We have recently completed another successful Mineral Resource Assessment (MRA) for a client in Sandy, Bedfordshire. You ask “Why might I need an MRA too?” Policy 209 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states:- “It is essential that there is a sufficient supply of minerals to provide the infrastructure, buildings, energy and goods that the country needs. Since minerals are a finite natural resource, and can only be worked where they are found, best use needs to be made of...

14. October 2021

Gas generated by the breakdown of organic material in nearby landfill sites or buried waste; or from naturally occuring gases from peat, alluvium, Coal Measures strata or other sources has the ability to seep into buildings and create either an explosive, toxic or asphyxiation risk. These gasses include carbon dioxide, methane among others. BS8485:2015 is the British Standard that covers the design and installation of gas protection membranes within new buildings, and this guidance states that...

21. September 2021

We have recently undertaken a ground investigation on a proposed residential site in Northamptonshire, conducting a Phase I and Phase II Investigation. The Phase I Desk Study indicated that the site was underlain by Northampton Sands Ironstone, deposited in the Jurassic Period between 170.3 million and 174.1 million years ago. The Northampton Sands Ironstone is present across the country, spreading from The Cotswolds, across The Midlands and to North Lincolnshire, and has historically been...

20. August 2021

We recently undertook a ground investigation near Marlow, Buckinghamshire along the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills. A Phase I and Phase II Investigation was required for a proposed commercial site on undeveloped land. The Phase I Desk study indicated the site is underlain by the Clay-with-Flints Formation (a chalk residual deposit) overlying the Newhaven Chalk Formation (formerly the Upper Chalk). For areas where chalk bedrock is underlying the surface there is a possibility of a...

22. July 2021

Here at Geo-Integrity we can undertake assessment of the stability of both existing slopes and man-made cuttings or embankments. Many of our clients projects include the creation of entirely new slope profiles through imported soil earthwork embankments and/or steepening of existing slopes though cuttings. We recently undertook a project in Bedfordshire, on West Melbury Marly Chalk, where we were asked to check stability on designed slopes across the site. Using laboratory testing on collected...

01. June 2021

We had to carry out Phase 3 supplementary site investigation on a site near the Buckinghamshire/ Northamptonshire border this month. We had previously undertaken a Phase 1 Desk Study and Phase 2 Ground Investigation for a proposed residential site. The investigation incorporated continuous tube boreholes to 6 metres with SPT testing, in-situ plate bearing testing for CBR values and modulus of sub-grade reaction, trial pits for soil description and contaminated land testing and some shallow...

18. May 2021

We have recently undertaken remediation verification sampling at a site near the A5 on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire border, located between Rugby, Leicester and Northampton. As part of the Local Planning Authority permission there had been a pre-commencement condition requiring a contaminated land site investigation and risk assessment. This was to be undertaken in accordance with the standards of DEFRA’s and the Environment Agency’s Model Procedures for the Management of...

28. April 2021

Here at Geo-Integrity Ltd. we recently undertook a Phase I Desk Study at Anderton, located north-west of Northwich in the county of Cheshire. The Northwich area is well known for its extraction of salt since the Roman times. The salt in question belongs to the Northwich Halite Member which was deposited 220 million years ago during the Triassic Period. Similar to chalk, evaporates (natural salt deposits) are prone to both natural and artificial dissolution producing karstic landforms and...