In urban planning, a brownfield site is land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes. The site may be contaminated by hazardous waste or pollution. The site may have the potential to be developed when the site has been cleaned up.
A geotechnical and geoenvironmental site investigation is required at the planning stage of any urban brownfield development, prior to the start of the building work. The investigation will provide an assessment of the potential geological, hydrological, environmental and contamination liabilities associated with the site and consider the most appropriate foundation solutions.
RSA Geotechnics was formed in 1980, and our initial purpose was to provide site investigation and geotechnical consultancy for clients within the civil engineering and construction sector. Following the growth in urban and brownfield development and an increased awareness of environmental issues we now provide specialist geoenvironmental assessment, remedial design and validation services.
The company has helped deliver contaminated land solutions for many urban and brownfield sites. We have undertaken a number of integrated geotechnical and contamination investigations on existing and former residential, industrial and commercial sites.
Contamination and pollution risks are assessed as well as the foundation solutions and design recommendations for all aspects of below ground construction, substructure and infrastructure. The design for each investigation will consider many aspects including the following:
- pre-demolition environmental audit
- desk study and environmental assessment
- restricted access and low headroom drilling rigs
- influence of historic site use on proposed development
- risk assessment
- remediation strategy and validation
Our reports provide environmental assessments, remediation strategies and foundation and structural design recommendations. We frequently remain involved with the development project providing a validation service for the remediation operations.