North East engineering firm RWO has won its first major geotechnical services contract as it plans further growth and expansion this year for its new department.
The move sees the Newcastle-based firm providing a range of ground investigation and laboratory testing services to support an undisclosed housebuilder in the North East.
RWO’s ground investigation, which includes geophysical surveying to identify potential historic mining features, the drilling of boreholes to assess the potential for historic underground coal mining and trial pitting/trenching to obtain samples, determine ground strength and investigate geophysical anomalies and assessing the presence of hazardous gases, is currently being undertaken on an 11-hectare site.
The results of this work are being used to support the planning process and provide detailed ground related information to the client for the scheme’s design.
Following completion of the geophysics work during the first two weeks on site, RWO has moved onto the trenching and found a mine shaft that could not be located during previous attempts by other contractors.
Chris Rudd, who heads up RWO’s geotechnical department, said that securing the first major work reflects the firm’s ability to deliver services, which add value and provide effective ground engineering solutions for complex problems.
It also comes as the department gears up for growth this year as commercial and residential developers across the North of England bring forward their investment and regeneration plans.
He said RWO’s move to provide a geotechnical services arm was part of the company’s vision to provide clients with a suite of high-quality technical engineering services, adding: “It’s great to secure our first major work, which sees us strengthen our relationship with the client as a go-to specialist engineering provider.
“It also reflects the high-quality ground investigation and surveying expertise available in the wider region to support new multi-million-pound infrastructure and inward investment projects. We look forward to building on this success over the next 12 months and supporting clients investing in growth and expansion.”
Working with leading house builders and construction companies, the company provides planning, flood risk analysis, geotechnical engineering, environmental consultancy, ground investigation, design expertise and local authority sewage adoption agreements among a range of engineering support for regional and national house builders and construction and infrastructure projects.
