Falklands landfill investigation

"Foundation & Exploration Services Ltd (FES) have completed a landfill site investigation for the Ministry of Defence at Gemma’s Gulch on East Island in the Falklands, under the supervision of consulting engineers Gifford & Partners of Southampton."

"FES were required to investigate ground and groundwater conditions at the site, a disused quarry, to determine its suitability for landfill. Ten 25m deep rotary boreholes were constructed and 73mm HDPE standpipes were installed to undertake in-situ variable-head permeability testing. In addition, three existing boreholes adjacent to the quarry were refurbished and standpipes fitted."

"The rock surveyed was mainly highly fractured crystalline sandstone and mudstone. Although faced with persistent, sub-vertical fractures, FES were able to obtain intact, represen-tative cores of 104mm and 90mm diameter using a Puntel MX600 truck-mounted rotary rig with air-mist flushing. Logging and initial strength tests were carried out on site with further analyses of the cores carried out on return to England."

Equipment and materials were transported to the Falklands by sea on a scheduled MoD service; personnel were transported by air on the regular Tristar service from Brize Norton via the Ascension Islands. The fieldwork was completed within four weeks.