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July 2007
 
FES recently completed a second phase of drilling, much of which was done airside
An extensive investigation of soil and rock geotechnical properties is nearing completion at the site of
the proposed Edinburgh Airport Rail Link (EARL). The project, being carried out by Fugro Engineering Services Ltd (FES)
for tie limited includes drilling, specialist cone penetration testing, sampling, dynamic probing and geophysical surveys.
The technical complexity of the project is made more challenging by the nature of the work environments.
Not only does much of the work need to take place during night-time possessions on the railways but also within
Edinburgh airport and the surrounding farmland. Co-ordination of the trackside, airside and landside aspects of the
large contract would be a daunting challenge for many site investigation companies but Fugro Engineering Services say
they were well prepared.
"Ninety-five per cent of the plant, engineers and operators used on the project are from Fugro's specialist
in-house resources. This has allowed FES to manage the difficult 22 week field programme efficiently despite the
specialist nature of the work and the wide-ranging environments. Health and safety have been paramount considerations.
Our Consett office in County Durham is well-placed to provide the support we need for major projects in Scotland.
We have a highly experienced Project Manager in Neale Davies. He is well-supported by our site agent Andy Horspool
who, like many of our staff, has been involved in major transport infrastructure projects such as Hong Kong airport"
said Fugro's Project Director, Christian Grundy.
Airport runway
A significant part of the investigation has centred on gathering soil and rock information for the tunnelling route.
Geophysical surveys on the airport runway section of the route used a combination of electrical resistivity and electromagnetic
methods including ground penetrating radar. Cone penetration testing through the runway provided a range of geotechnical
measurements and a limited number of boreholes were drilled adjacent to the runway. Some services such as concrete-coring
were provided by nominated sub-contractor Raynesway.
Railway
Trackside investigations include cable percussion (up to six rigs) and rotary drilling to obtain high quality soil and rock
samples for subsequent testing at Fugro's laboratories in Consett and Wallingford. Specialist cone penetration tests such as
cone pressuremeter and Mostap sampling were also carried out. Fugro is one of very few companies offering this capability.
In total the project included numerous cable percussion boreholes, rotary boreholes, and specialist cone-tests, as well as
Mostap sampling, dynamic probing and geophysics at many separate locations near railway track, the airport and embankments - all
completed on time and within budget.
Contact details:
Steve Poulter (0870 4021423)
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