Be Careful, Guys!

October 5th, 2012

The underground is full with possible dangers for anyone carrying out a soil investigation job. Be prepared and familiarise yourself with the terrain and its history by contacting beforehand official organisations like the Land Registry and similar.

Underground cables and conduits (like water mains, sewers, high voltage cables, telephone lines and oil and gas pipes) pose a serious risk when agitating or penetrating the ground. Even a simple 230 Vac cable can cause serious injury!

But do also think of the presence of life ammunition and other war remains, cavities/sink holes caused by karst, peaty soils that produce swamp gas, pollutions, etc. One of our clients told us a shocking story the other day; whilst carrying out a CPT test a WW1 poison gas grenade was hit by a nearby excavator. All present had to run and were really lucky to have saved their life.

In the picture the remains of a jacket cone after having hit a high voltage cable.