The engineering geology of the Nottingham area, UK

Nottingham was built near a crossing point on the River Trent in the East Midlands of England. Initially, the City developed on a low sandstone hill close to the north bank of the river, which provided a secure, well-drained location above the marshes that bordered the river. Geologically, Nottingham stands at the boundary between Palaeozoic rocks to the north and west, and Mesozoic and Cainozoic strata to the south and east. The area is underlain by coal-bearing Carboniferous Coal Measures, Permian dolomitic limestones, Permo-Triassic mudstones and weak sandstones, Jurassic clays and Quaternary glacial and alluvial deposits. Artificial deposits, resulting from the social, industrial and mineral extraction activities of the past cover the natural deposits over much of the area. This geological environment has underpinned the economic development of the area through the mining of coal (now largely ceased), oil extraction that was important during the Second World War, brickmaking from clays, alluvial sand and gravel extraction from the Trent Valley and gypsum extraction from the Permo-Triassic mudstones. The Permo-Triassic sandstone is a nationally important aquifer and has also been exploited at the surface and from shallow mines for sand. However, this history of the use and exploitation of mineral deposits has created a number of environmental problems including rising groundwater levels, abandoned mine shafts and mining subsidence, and, within the City itself, the occasional collapse of artificial cavities in the sandstone and contaminated land left by industrial activities. Natural constraints on development include gypsum dissolution, landslides, rockfalls, swell-shrink problems in Jurassic clays and flooding. Occasional minor earthquakes are attributed to movements due to coal mining or natural, deep geological structures. Thus, Nottingham’s geological context remains an important consideration when planning its future regeneration and development

Urban engineering geological maps for Bradford, UK

An applied geological study of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, UK, was the last of a series of British Government-funded projects to provide background applied geological information for land-use planning and development. This study included a range of engineering geological maps. As well as providing a general engineering geological overview, the maps show foundation conditions, suitability of deposits as engineered fill, excavatability, the thickness of superficial deposits and landslide distribution and slope steepness. The paper briefly describes the content of the maps and how they were produced

UK regional scale modelling of natural geohazards and climate change

For over 10 years, the British Geological Survey (BGS) has been investigating geotechnical and mineralogical factors controlling volume change behaviour of UK clay soils and mudrocks. A strong understanding of the relationship between these parameters and the clays' shrink-swell properties has been developed. More recently, partly resulting from concerns of users of this knowledge, a study of the relationships between climate change and shrink-swell behaviour over the last 30 years has been carried out. Information on subsidence insurance claims has been provided by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and the UK Meteorological Office (UKMO) historical climate station data has also been utilised. This is being combined with the BGS's GeoSure national geohazard data, to build a preliminary GIS model to provide an understanding of the susceptibility of the Tertiary London Clay to climate change. This paper summarises the data analysis and identifies future work for model construction and refinement

A tribute to Professor William Dearman : new small-scale engineering geological maps of the United Kingdom

Professor William Robert (“Bill”) Dearman was the first British Professor of Engineering Geology and a world leader in the development of engineering geological mapping techniques and methodologies, recognised by being awarded the IAEG’s Hans Cloos Medal. The maps described here would not have been completed without his initial ideas and interpretative work. It is a great regret that the maps were not finished in time for him to see them before his death in January 2009. This paper and the maps described in it are, therefore, dedicated to his memory

A business case study for the Environmental information system for planners (EISP) : prepared under Memorandum of Understanding for the Department for Communities and Local Government

This report forms the deliverable for work led by the British Geological Survey (BGS) under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) between 1st April 2007 and 31st October 2007. This work (Phase III) followed on from six years research effort (jointly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council URGENT Programme investment of £357,000 and the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, ODPM, investment of £347,000) (Phases I and II) in the development of an Environmental Information System for Planners (EISP). 2. Learning from the technically similar ODPM funded PARSOL-developed expert system, the costs of building production systems within a local planning authority are estimated. The availability and reasonable cost of nationally collated environmental datasets required to populate production EISPs, alongside the local authority provided data, are confirmed. The ‘off the shelf’ annual average cost to an individual Local Planning Authority considering to purchase and licence the data for such a production system is estimated at between £13,300 and £36,000 which compares well with other such types of IT systems purchased by LPAs in recent years. 3. Benefits to local authorities in using appropriate planning tools in EISP to implement DCLG environmental planning policies are estimated in terms of time and cost savings and actual extra environmental hazard costs avoided. Actual planning officer staff time saved using an EISP is estimated and costed and compared with the acquisition cost of such a commercially available production system. The saving is extremely conservatively estimated at £200,000 per year. This gives a conservative Benefit over Cost ratio of between 5.6-15 using staff time saving criteria alone. 4. A PARSOL-involved sample of local authorities, which were introduced to the likely costs and benefits of installing an EISP, concluded that it was definitely a worthwhile enhancement to eplanning. 5. Telford and Wrekin Council have offered to install a production EISP in 2008/9 with its technology consortium, if this can be funded by DCLG, as with the PARSOL expert systems. That system will be promoted throughout all the LPAs as the ‘Beacon’ system of best practice for Environmental Information Systems in Planning. 6. DCLG is recommended to fund the installation of one or two production EISP systems. One would be with the Telford and Wrekin Council system. The second would be with a local authority currently using CAP Solutions Uni-form planning system (basic e-planning infrastructure already installed in over 50% of English LPAs). These are costed at approximately £300,000 for the first system and £150,000 for the second

Engineering geology of the Wrexham Area

This report describes the engineering geology of the Wrexham district comprising an area of 225 km2 contained within National Grid 10 km squares SJ 35 25 (Quadrants KE and SE) and 34 (Quadrants NW and NE). The study was undertaken as part of an applied geology mapping project of the area by the British Geological Survey (BGS), part funded by the Department of the Environment ( Contract No. PECD] 7/ 1/ 290). The report appertaining to the project as a whole provides information on stratigraphy and mineral reserves and contains the Thematic Element Maps re€erred to within this report

Land use planning for high pressure pipelines : ground hazards from landsliding

Landsliding is a significant geological hazard in the UK and can cause localised damage to built structures including buried pipelines. Detailed investigation is required to establish the true nature and risk of landsliding at a site but this is a costly and time-consuming process that is unnecessary in many instances. Although widespread in occurrence landslides tend to occur only in certain areas where geological, geomorphological and environmental conditions are conducive to failure. Thus it is possible, by assessing existing records and experience to gain some indication of the susceptibility to landsliding of any particular location. In order to assess, on a national scale, the hazard to the high-pressure gas pipeline network from landsliding, Advantica Technologies commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) to collate available information regarding landslide hazards across the UK and present them in a way meaningful to the pipeline operators. The results of this research are presented in this report and accompanying data cd

Desk study and walk-over survey of Rhiw Landslip, Lleyn Peninsula

This report describes the findings of a walkover survey and desk study commissioned by Gwynedd Council. BGS were asked to investigate the geology and geomorphology in the area around Plas yn Rhiw, Gwynedd where landslide activity has led to the closure of an important road. BGS were also asked to comment upon the findings of an existing ground investigation by the consultants Ove Arup & Partners and upon a proposed re-routing of the road. This survey is in general agreement with the findings of the Ove Arup report that the landslide activity at Plas yn Rhiw occurs within heterogeneous glacial outwash deposits overlying relatively stiff units of glacial till. Although the prediction of future landslide activity is difficult due to the nature of the geology and the effect of previous remediation work on the landslide it is thought likely that, providing care is taken with the disposal of ground and surface water from the site, Route E1A is a viable long-term route for the road

Lloyd's Coppice Landslip Study Phase 1 : design of site investigation programme

This report, commissioned by Telford and Wrekin Council, provides a strategy for investigating the instability of the Lloyd's Coppice landslip, near Ironbridge. Recommendations are given for a drilling programme that will assist in modelling the geological sequence exposed in the sides of the Coppice, and form a basis for a stability assessment. The recommendations are based on a limited desk study using information provided by the Council, and a one day walkover survey

W. Henry Penning : a 19th century applied geologist

This paper gives an insight into the career of an applied geologist in the latter part of the 19th century. Over more than 30 years, William Henry Penning worked in England as an agent for a railway contractor, as a mapping geologist and, in South Africa, as a consultant geologist for gold, diamond and coal mining opportunities. Although not an academic, he published, frequently, on the geology of eastern England, on engineering geology and the geology of South Africa. Probably his greatest achievement, a book entitled Engineering Geology published in 1880, was still quoted until at least the 1930s. Yet, today, he is almost completely unknown. Penning's publications fall into three categories: Geological Survey memoirs, maps and sections and associated papers on the geology of eastern England; books and articles on building and engineering geology; and books, articles and papers on the geology of South Africa. His book on engineering geology was based on a series of articles published in The Engineer in 1879. The first of these contains the earliest usage, so far discovered, of the term 'engineering geology' in the UK and possibly the world. The book contains guidance still valid today. For this, he might be considered as the 'Founder of Engineering Geology' as a discipline. Whilst he did not establish any geological principles, he consistently published papers and books useful to applied geologists active in three principal fields of applied geology — geological mapping, mineral exploration and engineering geology. For this, he deserves to be remembered