Getting to grips with the soil
Soil investigation belongs at the start of your project
Getting to grips with the soil
If you only investigate the soil after plans have been finalised, you often lose time, money and freedom of choice. Soil investigation does more than identify risks. It helps determine where to build and how to use soil more intelligently.
Beneath every design lies soil with a history. Former activities, contamination, groundwater, soil life and reuse potential all influence what will be feasible later on.
That is why soil investigation is the basis for better project decisions.
Soil determines more than you see
Why is it best to start with an exploratory soil investigation?
Soil is more than sand, clay or loam. It also contains air, water, organic matter and soil life. Together, these elements determine how a site behaves during construction, excavation, dewatering or remediation.
That is why good soil investigation starts with the history of a site. What happened here in the past? Which activities may have left traces? Through boreholes, monitoring wells and laboratory results, a first picture of the soil quality emerges.
Contamination does not stay neatly in one place
Why is descriptive soil investigation needed?
Soil contamination rarely remains exactly where it started. It can sink deeper into the ground, spread through groundwater or move towards buildings through soil gas.
That is why a snapshot is not enough. A descriptive soil investigation shows where the contamination is located, how it spreads and which risks it creates today or in the future.
Remediation requires a tailored approach
Excavation is not always the best choice.
Remediation does not start with the technique. It starts with the future of the site.
Is redevelopment planned? Then it pays to look at remediation and design together. Sometimes excavation naturally fits in with the planned works. In other cases, a different approach is more suitable, for example through chemical or biological degradation in the soil.