Battersea Power Station
London
A subsurface multibeam sonar survey of tunnels at Battersea Power Station in London.
The Brief
Geoterra was appointed by civil engineering contractors, Cementation Skanska to carry out subsurface multibeam sonar survey to identify the location and structure of inlet and outlet tunnels. This survey data was required in preparation for a future development by Battersea Power Station developers. The exact location of the tunnels was unknown due to accurate survey mapping being unavailable.
The Solution
Using a specially commissioned multibeam sonar system together with a verticality probe, Geoterra in conjunction with our partners Robertson Geologging and Flodim, carried out subsurface multibeam sonar survey of the former power station coolant water outlet tunnel via pre-drilled boreholes. The boreholes and tunnel were geo-referenced to OSGB 36 and Newlyn level datum.
This was a particularly challenging survey as we had to carry out a survey of the tunnels which were either filled with water containing sediment or thick mud.
The Deliverables
Geoterra provided Cementation Skanska with a complete set of geo-referenced 3D point cloud data and updated topographical survey plans of the outlet tunnel, combining each of the sonar surveys. It was not possible to carry out a survey of the inlet tunnel as this was completely full of hard mud.
The multibeam sonar data could then be analysed and interpreted, together with an updated topographical survey plan, to plan detailed design of the future building works above.
