15 August - site investigations day

Today Groundsolve were engaged to do ground investigations, excavating three 3m-deep holes to test ground conditions for building, and to establish whether a soakaway for rainwater is feasible on the site.

They had contracted to have a bowser full of water supplied from Caerwys (sensible) and a JCB from Bala (not sensible). The bowser arrived on time at 8.30, but the first JCB broke down on the way and its replacement didn't arrive, and the job therefore didn't start, until 1.45. Fortunately the tractor+bowser driver had a lot of stories to tell me about Caerwys and its inhabitants, and I learnt more about Rosario's (of Groundsolve) background growing up in Sicily and gaining his advanced geology qualifications in northern Italy. Also, very kindly, we had coffee and pastries provided during the morning by Adrian and his wife (and tea by Bridget this afternoon). The advantages of having a local architect and getting on well with the vendor. (Adrian also turned up on site three times during the afternoon.)






The first hole to be dug was in the sticking-out-into-the-field area. At about 1.5m Rosario conducted an examination and did things with his geological hammer. Everything was very carefully logged.


When the hole was 3m deep, 2m of water was added from the bowser and readings of its height were taken regularly over the next 4 hours. It dropped about 300mm, leading to a provisional assessment that the ground will be unsuitable for a soakaway. This is likely to be confirmed after the testing of soil samples - we'll have the full report in a fortnight. It seems that this may not be a great problem as Adrian thinks that by proving unsuitability, we may be granted an exemption to the normal rules and allowed to discharge rainwater into the sewer.


Further 3m deep holes were dug at the rear right of the site and near the hedge and non-dig area boundary at the front. These weren't filled with water - I'm not sure whether this was because we were running late or because those places weren't up for consideration as soakaway sites.



The last two holes were backfilled first. The first hole, still containing a lot of water, was emptied by JCB bucket before being backfilled.


The site was left pretty level and tidy, and stumps were drawn at 7.30pm. A long day on site, but not a particularly physically demanding one. Not a cheap one either, but at least the resulting report will put Adrian in a position to finalise the planning application.





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