UXO disposal capability

The Scottish site Igne was commissioned to clear had been an operational military aerodrome from early 1913, serving initially as a fighter base.

During WWII it was determined that the facility faced an added risk of an amphibious assault.  As a result defences were constructed to address this risk.

Home guard and land based military units were co-located at the site during WWII.

The airfield was subjected to a number of German air raids between 1940 and 1941.

The project site had varied and challenging ground conditions for Igne to navigate - including demolished buildings, burial pits, stock piles of material and underground structures.  These all had to be taken into consideration when Igne's explosive ordnance disposal experts developed a risk mitigation strategy.

Devising a risk mitigation strategy

The risk mitigation strategy finally decided upon included:

• A detailed risk assessment and risk map
• Non-intrusive survey using multiple survey techniques and technologies
• Target classification and investigation
• Remediation of building rubble areas
• Disposal of UXO
• Clearance to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP)

Clearing UXO risk

During the clearance operation a total of 9,614 items of ordnance were recovered from site, 7,909 of which were determined to be live (i.e., containing viable explosive material).

A further six items of UXO were categorised as live but unsafe to move.

Following discussions with the client, third party stakeholders and authorities it was agreed that the explosive disposal on site of such a large number of live ordnance by explosive means was not practical or desirable.

The solution was to deploy Igne's bomb truck.  This enabled the 7,909 items of stable UXO to be immediately transported from site safely.  They were taken to a licensed disposal facility, and disposed of in a controlled and effective manner.

The remaining 6 items of UXO that were unsafe to move were destroyed by explosive means on site.

Client testimonial:

“Recovering such a large amount of live UXO was a concern to the project team. [Igne's] bomb truck ensured that the vast majority of the live UXO could be safely removed from site and disposed of elsewhere, safely efficiently and cost effectively."