Earlier this year we shared some British Geological Survey (BGS) mine data in relation to the emergence of several large sinkholes in Godstone High Street in Surrey. The story made national headlines and was declared a major incident by local authorities.
At the time, the cause of the sinkholes (one of which measured 20m in length) was unknown, but the BGS data for this area clearly showed several historic sand mine workings under this exact street.
Image from British Geological Survey GeoIndex data
Four months on and engineers working to repair the sinkholes have now confirmed the discovery of a network of Victorian sand mining tunnels in the vicinity, up to 8m in depth. These are currently being investigated and mapped, with the aim of repairing the existing damage and reinstating utilities by the end of this year.
BBC: Mine tunnels confirmed around giant sinkhole site
The identification of historic mine workings is a key part of the initial desk study and site investigation phases that GRM provide to landowners and property developers during the early stages of construction projects. This includes identifying both recorded and the potential for unrecorded mine workings, with site investigations helping to constrain the exact location and extent. If present or suspected, then remedial and mitigating measures can be put in place to ensure the development can proceed without risk.
We recently ran a series of mining related articles on our website which showed that historic workings affect large parts of the UK. The summary article can be found on our website, together with links to the other articles in the series:
If you have any development or construction projects that may be impacted by historic mine workings, then please get in touch to find out how we can help save both time and costs. Please use your main point of contact at GRM or for new enquiries email richard.upton@grm-uk.com or call 01283 551249.