Clifton Business Park, Salford

Clifton Business Park currently comprises a collection of commercial office buildings and a laboratory facility.

The site was being promoted for residential development and required a geo-environmental assessment to support planning and feasibility assessments.

A desktop study was undertaken to provide a preliminary assessment of the site, during which the presence of numerous potentially contaminative features were identified. These included a large infilled river valley, effluent treatment plant, various product storage tanks associated with a former chemical works operation, and a backfilled railway cutting.

A site investigation was designed following preparation of a desk based assessment, during which the spatial extent of infilled features were delineated and historic sources of contamination assessed.

The works identified up to 14m of colliery fill within the infilled railway cutting and valley feature and an assessment of risks posed by spontaneous combustion was therefore necessary.

The spatial extent of infilled land was central to the site investigation works and a detailed understanding of the location of these features relative to contemporary map records were required in order to locate boreholes.

Historic map records were imported into CAD suites so that the valley and railway cutting features could be located on site, thus facilitating site investigation design and borehole placement. The results from the site investigation confirmed the boundary of features determined from the Phase 1 Study. This allowed the implications for the proposed development plan to be assessed.

Site investigation completed across the remainder of the site supported the identification of contamination hot spots and wider geotechnical considerations allowing the early identification of abnormal items and determination of foundation typeology.

Working in conjunction with remedial contractors, the findings from the site investigation works informed potential abnormal costs associated with the site’s development, for the purpose of assessing the land value.