Olympic Park Site Investigation The team worked with Morrison Construction Limited to undertake a series of site

investigations on a series of land parcels earmarked for development for the 2012

Olympic Games.

The work involved detailed geotechnical and environmental investigations at various

locations in the Northern Zone of the Olympic Park development. The work was

overseen on site by Hyder Consulting and Morrison Construction Limited.

The works undertaken included:

Cable Percussive boring utilising safe drilling practises up to 50m depth, in-situ testing

and sampling, installation of ground water monitoring, vapour monitoring and gas

monitoring standpipes, geotechnical and chemical soil sampling, head space testing

of soil samples using PID meters, window sampling, hollow stern auguring, in-situ

permeability testing, extensive gas and groundwater quality monitoring, site

supervision and logging, chemical and geotechnical laboratory testing, detailed

factual reporting including delivery of all data in AGS format. Our team of office-

based engineers coordinated all aspects of project management, sample

management, data management and reporting.

The site element of the project was particularly challenging, but working closely with

the client we were able to successfully overcome these challenges in order to meet

the tight project deadlines set. These included: unexpected ground conditions,

access and logistical difficulties and working over the very shallow and tidal River Lea.

Olympic Park Site Investigation

Health and safety and environmental issues were paramount importance to the

project, as there was potential for a wide range of contaminants across the Olympic

Park site. As a result of this, many zones we worked on were designated category

‘RED’ for ground investigation purposes. Specific PPE and welfare/decontamination

facilities associated with this were made available on site to deal with the additional

risks faced by our site personnel. Gas alarms were also located close to every drilling

rig with both the supervising engineer and driller being trained in their use.

In order to limit the impact of our drilling operations in mobilising potential

contaminants into deeper water resources, clean drilling techniques were applied to

all drilling operations. All boreholes were initially commenced in 250mm diameter

casing, with reductions in diameter at the base of made ground and a further

reduction at the base of the River Terrace Deposits. In order to prevent cross-

contamination, 2.0m long bentonite seals were placed between each reduction. All

drilling tools were thoroughly cleaned between borehole positions.

In several cases, Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed were a problem on several

of the locations we worked on. To eliminate risk of spreading the Knotweed, wash

down points were set up to decontaminate all equipment, vehicles and staff.

Sampling was restricted within specific exclusion zones to restrict the potential for

spreading further.

Regular audits of our rigs and operational safety measures were carried out in order

to ensure we complied with the site rules and safety controls in place. We also

submitted detailed site-specific method statements and risk assessments for all of

our operations and attended regular tool box talks and site induction briefings. We

take pride in our health and safety record, and successfully completed the works with

zero incidents.