Events & Courses

Lecture Overview:

Time: 5:30pm for 6:00pm

Speaker: Gareth Owen

Synopsis:

The proposed redevelopment of a quarry notified as a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest posed a number of challenges and constraints for the developer, both geotechnical and in protecting the geodiversity.  It also afforded a unique opportunity to record and assess the Carboniferous and Triassic geology, and the impressive unconformity between them, that had been largely buried for over half a century.

The redevelopment scheme has been ongoing since April 2013, and has involved the movement and placement of over 1million cubic metres of earth fill to form an earthwork some 30m thick in order to provide a residential development plateau.  Retained as consultant geologist on the scheme, WYG provided geotechnical advice on the scheme and were responsible for the monitoring and recording of the geodiversity.  A number of techniques were employed, including the use of photogrammetric stereo pairs and laser scan imaging to provide a 3D virtual model of the geodiversity encountered prior to burial.

This talk will provide an overview of the geotechnical and geodiversity challenges and solutions on the scheme, as well as a pictorial flythrough of the geology encountered.