Trouble Down Below? - Exeter expert offers insight into Cornish underground hazards

Geophysical surveying specialist Neill Wood, from the world-famous Camborne School of Mines, will deliver the absorbing lecture at a special joint event with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors at Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall, on Wednesday 16 November.

Cornish developers are likely to face a myriad of underground hazards, due to the county’s mining legacy. Early mine workings were rarely mapped and concentrations of chemicals and toxins, such as arsenic and the known cancer-causing agent cadmium can also create problems which often require costly remedial action.

During his lecture, which will be delivered to members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors alongside postgraduate students from Camborne School of Mines, Neill will discuss how cutting-edge surveying methods can be used to discover what lies below.

Neill said: “One of the big barriers to the use of new technology is knowledge deficiency: knowledge of its existence, knowledge of its capabilities, and knowledge of its limitations.

“The aim of this joint seminar with RICS is to break down some of those knowledge barriers so that site investigation professionals can at least consider non-intrusive techniques with an understanding of how they might be applied using modern technology.”

“I am delighted to be involved in such an important joint seminar. On the one hand it provides an opportunity for engagement with industry to communicate the current state of the art in non-intrusive site investigation, using case studies from my work at the Camborne School of Mines.

On the other hand it provides our postgraduate students with an opportunity to engage with professionals from the industries where many will be seeking employment next year. It’s a win-win.”
The seminar will provide an important networking opportunity for students studying for MSc Surveying, Land and Environmental Management. Neill Wood is Programme Director of this Postgraduate course which is accredited by both RICS and the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES).

The seminar Surveying the Unseen will be delivered at the University of Exeter Penryn Campus on 16 November. For more information visit the RICS website.