Explosive ordnance survey for service areas and car parks

Investigation requirements should be established as soon as ground interventions for aisles, parking spaces, utilities, drainage, buildings, masts or technical installations can be described. The specific working volume, with its location, depth and construction method, is decisive. A historical preliminary assessment can evaluate suspected ordnance spatially; the subsequent technical service depends on surface, interference conditions and intervention geometry.

A paved surface says nothing about whether the underlying working volume has been adequately assessed for the new works. Asphalt, concrete, utilities, reinforcement and technical installations may limit survey methods. Before deployment, it is therefore assessed what data depth and conclusions are achievable under existing conditions and whether demolition stages or supplementary methods are needed.

Helpful documents include the site plan, land parcels, extension or alteration design, construction sections, excavation depths, utility and drainage drawings, foundation and mast schedules, ground investigation documents, historical assessments and existing correspondence with authorities. For sites remaining in operation, traffic phases, closed areas and decision dates should also be stated.

Information and requirements from authorities are supplied with their date, complete appendices and geographical scope. In Germany, the competent ordnance disposal service, local public-order authority and, where relevant, building-control authority are identified for the project location; outside Germany, local responsibilities apply.

If an unexpected suspicious object is found, stop work. Do not touch, move or uncover it further. Leave the immediate area and warn others without putting yourself at risk. In Germany, notify the police on 110; outside Germany, use the local emergency reporting procedure. The competent authorities determine what happens next; a project enquiry does not replace reporting the find.

Where existing surfacing, buildings, technical installations or interference zones are present, the technical suitability of explosive ordnance detection during construction is assessed. Each working layer is surveyed and evaluated using technical methods before controlled removal in layers with supplementary visual inspection. The steps are repeated down to the agreed excavation base. Construction stage, excavation layers, hold points, lines of instruction and documentation are established before work starts. Necessary investigations and protective measures are also planned before ground disturbance during breaking out or demolition; unrecorded areas remain unresolved.

In Germany, the federal states' explosive ordnance disposal services and locally responsible authorities perform emergency response and ordnance-find handling tasks. Outside Germany, local responsibilities apply. The privately commissioned specialist company assesses documents, carries out the agreed service and documents its result. Reporting procedures and contacts are established for the project location before earthworks begin.

The report describes initial conditions, drawing revision, subareas and depths investigated, methods used, survey and field conditions, findings, technical limitations and required follow-up measures. It identifies inaccessible zones or zones that cannot be reliably evaluated and relates the conclusion exclusively to the documented scope of work.

Relevant factors are the number and size of subareas, surface condition, utilities and interference, required investigation depths, number of deep points, traffic and closure phases, accessibility, data formats, documentation scope and possible follow-up services. Reliable costing therefore requires an unambiguous location and ground-intervention reference.