Culham Campus
- Client: UKAEA
- Location: Oxfordshire
- Duration: None
Soakaway testing to determine suitability of the soil for a soakaway design to ensure proper drainage
Objective
The purpose of the soakaway testing was to verify the suitability of infiltration for the surface water design at a brownfield development for the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
Soakaways are used to store the immediate surface water run-off from hard surfaced areas and allow for efficient infiltration into the adjacent soil.
Works Description
Infiltration testing of 8no soakaways on site in accordance with Building Research Establishment (BRE) Digest 365: Soakaway Design (2016)
The test pits were excavated to an area of 2 m x 1 m with a maximum depth of 1.5 m to represent the proposed design solution. The soakaway testing consisted of groundwater level and recharge monitoring using data-loggers over a 3 cycles of filling/emptying.
Solution
The time for the water level to fall from 75% to 25% effective depth was recorded. The soil infiltration rate was calculated and the test results were reported to the client.
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