Vibration monitors help protect property during land remediation

Vibration instrumentation on hire from Ashtead Technology helped a firm of engineering contractors to ensure that remediation of contaminated land did not incur costly structural damage to nearby properties. Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 aims to identify land affected by contamination that presents an unacceptable risk in its present state. If such land is identified, Part 2A is intended to ensure that where it is reasonable, given the costs and benefits of risk reduction, and practicable, remediation is carried out so that the land no longer presents an unacceptable risk. Local Authorities are responsible for the identification of contaminated land and Defra funds remedial work. The Part 2A legislation has resulted in a large number of projects for VHE Construction staff, who contacted Ashtead Technology and hired three Vibrock V901 seismographs to supplement their own stock of the instruments to work in locations stretching from Southampton to Glasgow. The V901 is ideal for unattended monitoring of ground vibration events such as quarrying, demolitions and drilling. Capable of continuous monitoring, it also allows the user to set threshold parameters to generate alarms and for impulse triggered monitoring, with all results stored internally for subsequent download to computer. It is important to retain a permanent record of vibration during the remediation activity so that such work can be eliminated as the cause of any subsequent structural issues in nearby buildings. Phil Evans, a Site Manager for Leeds based VHE, said: "The company's core business is brownfield land reclamation and remediation. Much of our work involves hard break out, soil excavation and processing and for many sites it may be necessary to monitor vibrations levels in nearby buildings, particularly when contaminated material is being removed from household gardens. "The Vibrock V901 can detect when vibrations are approaching levels of concern, in which case alternative remedial methods can be employed. The V901 from Ashteadd Technology enabled us to measure the vibrations from a number of different projects happening simultaneously and in each case helped us to carry out the remediation work safely and effectively. "The instruments arrived fully calibrated and ready for immediate deployment and we were also able to call on Ashtead Technology for advice or help during the period.. Ashtead Technology's Alan Hasson, added: "Vibration monitoring instrumentation represents an important market for us and we have made considerable investment in our fleet to ensure that we have the very best technologies available. "A major benefit of renting is the flexibility that it provides; customers have access to the most up-to-date instrumentation on the market but avoid the capital cost associated with buying outright." Please visit www.ashtead-technology.com to explore the complete range of instrumentation available from Ashtead Technology. ENDS Words: 447

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