ASSESSING THE UNDERWORLD – Determination of Deep Cracks within Road Slabs

The assessment of the condition of road slabs is frequently conducted using visual identification,supported by laser-range profiling, of surface cracks and degradation. Such methods have no capability for determining the depth of a crack, or the presence of a bottom-up crack within a road slab.

ASSESSING THE UNDERWORLD – Determination of Tree Root Extent in Paved Areas

The Mayor of London has recently been responsible for adding a further 10,000 ‘street trees’ to the City. Very little is known about the long-term implications of such initiatives. For example, damage is likely to increase to water pipes, sewers, cables and the costs related to building subsidence are also likely to grow. However, no scientific method exists of non-invasively measuring the extent of a tree root structure under a paved area. The aim of this programme is to measure changes in the nearsurface caused by tree toots using geophysical techniques.