A second Greater London unexploded ordnance (UXO) find in as many days has caused further transport misery and highlighted the benefit of commercial Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) engineers.

Suspected World War Two bomb

The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing was closed after a suspected World War Two bomb was found nearby, causing a long queue on the M25.

Unexploded ordnance dartford crossing
The closure caused a long queue on the m25

The Army EOD team took no chances and set up a safety cordon which resulted in the road closure. EOD engineers used X-ray equipment to fully identify the risk posed by the item of ordnance. On this occasion the shell was found not to contain any hazardous fill, such as explosives.

Benefit of brimstone eod x-ray mortar
Uxo x-ray image example (a mortar bomb)

The benefit of Brimstone EOD on-site supervision

Unfortunately, false UXO finds are a common occurrence in the UK. Gas canisters and bottles are among the most commonly misidentified objects. Police officers will always call upon Ministry of Defence EOD teams when a member of the public reports a suspicious object.

The armed forces’ EOD units are not always immediately available, and some end up travelling hundreds of miles to reach the scene. Consequently, false UXO incidents can result in costly and inconvenient delays, closures, and evacuations.

One significant benefit of Brimstone EOD engineer site supervision is their ability to correctly identify partially buried objects. Certain items can look like UXO to the untrained eye, however, are non-hazardous metal objects. In such instances, the EOD engineer would order excavations to continue uninterrupted, until the next suspicious object is encountered.

With three offices across the UK, we offer flexible support to projects nationwide. If you are embarking on a new project or have an upcoming site that requires UXO support, get in touch with our dedicated commercial team.

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