Consultancy & Rapid Measure Testing

Combining our waste classification knowledge and the use of rapid testing technology reduces the waste costs significantly

Client: J Coffey Construction

Our services on the site included:

An initial assessment and report on the site investigation

Liaison on behalf of J Coffey with the client, their consultant and the regulator

Classification soil testing and reporting using Rapid Measure Technology

Compliance management and auditing

On-site waste management

The Challenge

J Coffey were working on the £34million project to build new lock gates at the Port of Tilbury, with the ultimate client being the Environment Agency. A widespread site investigation had been conducted and a large percentage of the samples were classified as hazardous by the consultant due to elevated heavy metals. The report stated that they did not think accurate segregation of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes were possible and therefore instructed the contractor to consign all waste soils as hazardous, at a significant cost.

The Solution

SoilEx initially conducted a review of the site investigation, noting a majority of the samples that were considered hazardous had been mis-classified, with the consultant assuming a worst-case scenario on the metal species when the evidence demonstrated this wasn’t necessary. SoilEx produced a report on the investigation, providing evidence that in fact a much smaller percentage of the samples were hazardous and proposing the use of Rapid Measure Technology at the point of excavation, to isolate the hazardous soils more accurately. This report and proposal was adopted on the project.

The Result

With the use of rapid measure technology in the confirmed hazardous hotspots the contaminated waste was able to be segregated accurately with circa 90% of the sites waste being classified and removed as Non-hazardous soils. Better still, due to their physicality the soils were able to be washed and recycled rather than disposed to landfill. The cost saving on the project due to the process that was proposed and implemented by SoilEx was significant, and the environmental impact of the waste was also reduced substantially. The key to the project was proper understanding of the waste classification process and the use of innovation. Without this all waste from this site would have be incorrectly consigned as hazardous.