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What Do You Do on a Cold, Wet Saturday?

When one of our clients rang late in the week to ask if we could carry out some CBR testing on a motorway hard shoulder the next Saturday we should have checked the weather forecast before saying yes. Saturday saw high winds and torrential rain – but more importantly for our client, it also saw us complete the required CBR testing despite the weather conditions. Just for good measure we also carried out some Mackintosh probing at no additional cost.

Contract value <£1k

If you need CBR testing, Plate Bearing testing, dynamic probing or pile probing then please contact Duncan Eastland (Tel: 01296 739431).

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Motorway Service Area Investigation

Earlier this month we were awarded a contract to investigate the forecourt area at a motorway service area in southern England, for a major oil company, as part of a leasehold transition.
With data from over thirty boreholes and monitoring wells this was a relatively detailed investigation for forecourt investigation. However, our client understood that carrying our a comprehensive combined environmental and geotechnical ground investigation at an early stage invariable pays saves money in the long run.
We used our GeoProbe direct-push drilling system to construct boreholes, targeting key areas such as the below-ground fuel tanks, fuel lines and forecourt interceptor. We then analysed the soil and groundwater samples for our hydrocarbon suite at our own UKAS
accredited laboratory.
Our investigation report has provided our client with a detailed baseline study confirming ground quality and highlighting any areas of contamination at the time they took over mangement of the site.
Contract value £25k

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Subadra Go Bananas

Replacement Pipework

We certainly get to work at a wide variety of different sites, but a call from a major banana distributor was a first even for us. The underground pipework carrying fuel to supply their trucks had failed and required urgent replacement. At short notice we were on site replacing the corroded steel pipework with modern plastic equivalents. We sampled the soil around the failed pipework and our in-house laboratory was able to confirm within 24 hours that no significant ground contamination had occurred. Within 36 hours the fuel supply system was back in commission and the banana trucks had started rolling again.

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Pile Probing Record Smashed

Tom joins the 100ft club

Tom Petzing, one of our Geoprobe operators, last week smashed our long-held drilling record completing 218m (yes, that really is two hundred and eighteen metres) of pile probing in a single day. The deepest location was probed to a depth of 32.4m, or 106ft in old money, which means that Tom joins our Managing Director as a member of the elite Geoprobe 100ft club. Well done Tom, the t-shirt is in the post!

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Subadra Complete New Fuel Storage Facility For Millenium Seedbank

This month saw us complete construction of a new fuel storage facility for Royal Botanic Gardens’ Millenium Seed Bank. A key aspect of the project was to ensure that the Seed bank was continuously supplied with fuel (used for heating greenhouses) as any protracted outage would have had dire consequences for the seeds. In the event the switchover was completed without a hitch.

Subadra were responsible for all the civils works (constructing the tank base and retaining walls, installing a dedicated drainage and spill capture system, electrical installation etc. Our partner, Vectec, were responsible for supplying and installing the tanks and associated pipework.

Contract Value: £50-100k

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Foundations for Key City Data Centre

Whilst much of our work in carried out in the provinces we sometimes dabble with high finance in the City.

Subadra played a key role in the development of an £80 million multi-storey data centre facility in London’s docklands area. We were brought in at the inception of the project to carry out a geotechnical and environmental investigation to determine ground conditions.

Our investigation comprised a network of boreholes across the development area that were used to collect soil samples for analysis and groundwater and hazardous gas monitoring points.

The site was especially tricky geotechnically, comprising areas of in-filled docks, some highly contaminated and others containing very soft silts and clays.

We used the data to assist with foundation design and the classification of waste soil.

Contract value: £20-50k

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Pile Probing for Five Star Hotel

Encountering obstructions during piling works and clearing these obstructions can cause significant cost implications and also impact upon the construction programme. However, delays and significant cost-overuns can be avoided by completing a quick and easy pile probing survey.
We recently carried out a pile probing exercise a high profile redevelopment project in central London. The principal contractor identified an old, below-ground fuel tank that needed to be removed. Due to adverse ground conditions and proximity to a basement and the adjacent road, sheet piling around the tank prior to its removal was considered the most effective and safest option.
We were brought in prior to the piling rig to identify an obstruction free boundary around the tank to allow the piling to be undertaken. We completed 400m+ of probing in two days using our Geoprobe drill rig, completing the works on budget and ahead of schedule.
Additionally, despite the working area having been surveyed and declared “service-free” by the principal contractor our drill team, who are all trained in service detection, identified a 4″ water main in our specified working area during our pre-enabling The findings from our probing allowed the pile design to be refined and the service clearance works we carried out avoided everyone from getting very wet.
Contract value: <£10k

See also: Mayfair Hotel

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Subadra Upgrade Geoprobe

Following an extremely busy few months our hard-working Geoprobe drill rig has had a week off the road for its annual overhaul and re-spray. We took the opportunity to add a diamond coring facility to the rig for coring concrete pavement/forecourts. Now, not only can we offer 30m+ of drilling productivity per day, but we’re even neater doing it!