DAM Geotechnical Services 01389 731 870

Geotechnical · Geophysical · Geoenvironmental

Read the ground. Manage the risk.

Specialist site investigation, survey and consultancy for the civil engineering sector — from the first desk study to the validation of the measures that protect a building from the ground it stands on.

Talk to a geotechnical engineer What we do

DumbartonUK-widePhase 1 + Phase 2

Fig. 01 Conceptual site model — plan
Conceptual site model in plan A site boundary enclosing a hatched source area, a dashed pathway crossing the site, and a receptor building with a borehole on the far side. SITE BOUNDARY BH01 SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR N 0 5 10 m
  • Source made ground, tanks, contamination
  • Pathway service trench, groundwater flow
  • Receptor building, borehole, water

Indicative diagram — not to scale.

BaseDumbarton, G82
CoverageUK-wide
InvestigationPhase 1 + Phase 2
Enquiries01389 731 870

01Scope

One practice, from desk study to validation.

DAM Geotechnical Services provides a broad range of specialist site investigation, survey and consultancy services to the civil engineering sector. Established in 1987, the practice works on everything from small-scale residential developments to large, multi-phase projects.

  • Geotechnical Ground conditions, in situ and laboratory testing, and the interpretative report that follows.
  • Geophysical A non-invasive, cost-effective way to locate and define sub-surface features or anomalies.
  • Geoenvironmental Contamination risk characterised against the development proposals and the sensitivity of the site.
A tracked site investigation rig standing on open grass.
Fig. 02Tracked rig · site investigation

02Services

Eleven services, three phases.

Grouped the way the work actually runs: what can be established from the desk, what has to be measured in the ground, and what the results mean for the development.

No. Service What it answers

ADesk

01 Phase 1 Desk Studies

Site history, geology, environmental setting and the likely risks posed to and from a site.

02 Coal Mining Risk Assessments

Mining hazards — subsidence, combustion and contamination — assessed from Coal Authority reports, abandonment plans and geological information.

03 UKWIR Water Supply Pipe Determination

Which water supply pipe material a brownfield site requires to protect drinking water quality.

BGround

04 Phase 2 Site Investigation

The condition of soil, groundwater and surface water, and what the contamination sources identified at desk stage mean for the design.

05 Geophysical Surveys

Sub-surface features and anomalies — utilities, mine shafts, voids, bedrock, landfill — located and defined without digging.

06 Laboratory and Analytical Services

Chemical and geotechnical test results, reported alongside the investigation and read against the desk study.

CRisk

07 Environmental Risk Assessment

Qualitative and quantitative contamination risk, specific to the development, the ground conditions and the environmental sensitivity.

08 Ground Gas Risk Assessment

Carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide — monitored and assessed to BS 8485 and CIRIA C665.

09 Ground Gas Protection Validation

Independent verification that gas protection measures are installed and working — including membrane integrity testing.

10 Radon Gas Risk Assessment

Radon concentrations, the likelihood of requiring radon protection, and short or long term monitoring where needed.

11 Remediation Method Statements (RMS)

The remedial steps, monitoring and validation works needed to discharge planning conditions.

03The linkage

Source. Pathway. Receptor.

A contamination risk only exists where all three are present: a source of contamination, a pathway that carries it, and a receptor that can be harmed. The investigation establishes whether that chain is complete — and where it is not, what has to change.

The Phase 1 desk study develops the conceptual site model: the site's history, geology and environmental setting, and any likely risk factors posed to and from the site or proposed development. It is where sources and receptors are first named.

The Phase 2 investigation then tests that model in the ground — soil, groundwater and surface water sampled where the sources and receptors actually are, with the methods chosen around access, geology and the contaminants of concern.

If the chain is complete, it has to be broken, managed or designed for. That is the assessment.

Fig. 04 Section through the ground
Section through the ground A ground section showing made ground over sand, clay and bedrock, with a source in the made ground, a dashed pathway to a building foundation, and a borehole. GROUNDWATER SOURCE PATHWAY RECEPTOR BH01 0 m 2 4 6 MADE GROUND SAND & GRAVEL CLAY BEDROCK
  • Source contamination in made ground
  • Pathway migration through permeable strata
  • Receptor building, borehole, groundwater
Resistivity electrodes and cable laid out in lines across a grass field.
Fig. 03Electrical resistivity tomography · electrodes set out over the area of interest

04In the field

The work, as it happens.

Survey, boreholes and monitoring — the points where a conceptual model is either confirmed or corrected.

A surveyor carrying a geophysical instrument across open ground.
Fig. 05Geophysical survey · hand-held instrument
A cable percussion drilling rig set up over a borehole.
Fig. 06Cable percussive borehole · soil sampling
A ground-gas analyser connected to a borehole head.
Fig. 07Ground-gas monitoring · at the borehole

05Evidence

Measured, plotted, reported.

Geophysical results are delivered as plots, not impressions. This is a GEM-2 EM survey plot of total apparent conductivity across a site — the kind of figure that goes into the interpretative report.

Fig. 08 GEM-2 EM survey plot — total apparent conductivity (mS/m)
A GEM-2 electromagnetic survey plot showing total apparent conductivity across a site, overlaid on an aerial image with high-conductivity anomalies picked out in red.
Plot reproduced from a DAM survey deliverable.Grid coordinates as plotted
Method
Frequency-domain electromagnetic (EM) induction, walked in a grid over the site.
Output
Total apparent conductivity in millisiemens per metre, contoured against site coordinates.
Use
Anomalies located before any intrusive work — services, voids, made ground, contamination.
Report
Issued with the interpretative report, alongside the Phase 2 investigation results.

06Clients & sectors

Built for the civil engineering sector.

Geotechnical, geophysical and geoenvironmental work — for small-scale residential developments and for large, multi-phase projects.

  • Civil engineering Site investigation, survey and consultancy for civil engineering projects.
  • Geotechnical Ground conditions, testing and interpretative reporting.
  • Geophysical Non-invasive survey of sub-surface features and anomalies.
  • Geoenvironmental Contamination, ground gas and the risk to receptors.

See our clients

07Contact

Tell us about the site.

Send the site address and the development proposals. The desk study usually starts there.

01389 731 870 enquiries@dam.co.uk
Call the office Email enquiries

Office

DAM Geotechnical Services
69 Glasgow Road
Dumbarton, Glasgow
G82 1RE

Dumbarton · working UK-wide