Ground Investigation

The Ground Investigation division of Norwest Holst now forms one of the largest and most experienced technical services operating in the UK. A team of specialist geotechnical and geo-environmental engineers are supported by expert field operatives and supervisors, who are committed to providing the highest levels of professional service.

Fieldwork Capability

The Company operates one of the largest and most diverse plant fleets in the UK, capable of producing high quality samples from all ground types and in all site conditions, on land and over water.

Drift Deposits

Trial pitting
Mackintosh probe
Dynamic probe
Window sampling
Tracked dynamic sampling rigs
Standard cable tool boring rigs
Heavy duty cable tool boring rigs
Sectional cable tool boring rigs
Air winch powered rigs
Rotary odex and coring

Rock Investigation

Open hole probing
Double and triple tube coring
76mm, 90mm & 102mm core
Wireline
Tracked rigs
Tractor mounted rigs
All terrain lorry rigs
Trailer rigs
Restricted access multi purpose rigs

Environmental

Trial pits
Window samplers
Competitor rigs
Continuous flight auger
Cable tool rigs
Gas spike
Leachate wells
Soil, water and gas sampling
Infra red gas monitors
Specialist hydrocarbon test kits
In house accredited laboratories

Over Water Investigations

Scaffolds
Pontoons
Barges
Small and large jack up platforms
Probing
Cable tool boring
Rotary coring
Bathymetric surveys
Marine geophysics

Instrumentation

Piezometers
Gas and water monitoring wells
Settlement gauges
Inclinometers
Multi-port ground water wells
Standpipe, porous tip, pneumatic,
vibrating wire, hydraulic piezomet

Laboratory Capability

The main geotechnical laboratory is based at our Leeds Head Office and is one of the largest single site UKAS ISO 17025 accredited laboratories in Britain, encompassing all of the routine BS1377 geotechnical, soil chemistry, mechanical property and physical tests.

Storage for 10,000 U100 samples, 80,000 other samples. Over 50 effective stress systems, 30 Oedometers, 40 technicians.

Density/moisture content relationship
MCV
Chalk crushing
Oedometer
Rowe cell
Permeability
Rock point load
Rock porosity
Slake durability

CBR
Chemical properties
Shear box
Total stress triaxial
Effective stress triaxial
Atterberg limits
Particle size distribution
Ring shear
300 mm shear box

Reporting

Environmental desk studies
Geotechnical desk studies
Site investigation planning
Factual reports
Advise and interpretation
Digital reports in PDF format
Over 60 Geotechnical Engineers
Digital data through AGS and LIMS
Quality assured data

Applications

Highways
Factories / Retail
Bridges
Contaminated sites
Marine developments
Power stations
Railways
Water Industry
Residential

Quality

UKAS Accreditation - www.ukas.org
Quality Plans
Working to ISO9000
ISO 17025 laboratories
BDA Accredited staff