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CASE STUDY

Burntwood_

Following on from unsuccessful remediation efforts, we deployed to site to tackle the present threat of UXO

More than 3,500 individual items of UXO were recovered from the site. Through a collaborative effort with the Health and Safety Executive and local council, we formed a plan to destroy the items on-site using explosive demolitions.

More than 3,500 individual items of UXO were recovered from the site. Through a collaborative effort with the Health and Safety Executive and local council, we formed a plan to destroy the items on-site using explosive demolitions.

Burntwood uxos found
More than 3,500 individual items of UXO were recovered from the site.

Those items most frequently found were No. 68 anti-tank rifle grenades, which numbered more than 2,500 during our visit. Prior to our tenure of the site, numerous No. 68s were remediated by military EOD units. Also, Z-rockets, fuzes and land and sea mine components have been located, alongside other items. Small arms ammunition (SAA) casings were also found on site. 

We deployed an armoured excavator to site uncover UXO, supervised by an advanced-qualified UXO engineer wearing body armour and a ballistic helmet. The excavated spoil was fed into one of our four conveyor systems, to screen out dangerous items before reinstatement. We processed 80,000 cubic metres of ground.

Four conveyor systems were used to the project, two labourers and one UXO engineer were assigned to each conveyor belt. Once an item of UXO was found, a dynamic threat assessment was made and the item dealt with accordingly – certified free from explosives (CFFE) or as UXO.

We stored hundreds of items of ordnance on-site in a protected UXO store, constructed to military and international standards of safety. This stockpile of UXO was managed by former army ammunition technicians and bomb disposal officers. 

We completed over 100 explosive demolitions throughout the project, routinely destroying unsafe ordnance on-site across four or more demolitions per day. The quantity of explosives used never exceeded a total of 10kg, calculated through established safety distance formulae and using protective works. There was no safety incident involving UXO or the use of explosives throughout the project and the site was handed back to the client with an ALARP certificate.

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