During WWII, due to nearby rail infrastructure, our clients site area was selected as a strategic target for Allied bombers.
The destruction of this rail link was considered crucial to disrupt German communications and transport links following Operation Overlord; the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during WWII.
Anecdotal accounts from RAF crew members suggest that during one sortie, some 3,500 tons of bombs were dropped on a number of targets including the railway station near our clients’ site.
This raid was part of 26 sorties flown to cripple Axis held transportation links and to prevent a German counter attack pushing the Allies back from their foothold in France. Such sorties primarily involved concentrated attacks by a large number of aircraft to ensure targets were neutralised.
Our client was understandably concerned about the possibility of encountering buried Allied unexploded ordnance during their borehole operations, and asked 1st Line Defence to initially provide a Detailed UXO Risk Assessment and subsequent UXO Support to stage-clear each borehole down to an assessed maximum bomb penetration depth.
A total of 12 boreholes were surveyed and cleared – thankfully no anomalies, unexploded ordnance or items related to UXO were detected or encountered at any of the exploratory locations, allowing the borehole operations to progress safely.
It was great to receive some nice feedback from our client at the end of the project:
“Janette in the Sales Team was a pleasure to deal with and a real help with the project. Reports from our site lads on your operative were excellent”
If you require a risk assessment or UXO survey on construction sites in the UK or abroad, contact our team who will be able to help you and guide you through the different options available.
