Since December 2016 we have been documenting the progress at a soil remediation site in Portsmouth, Hampshire for national remediation experts SoilFix.
During each visit we have been capturing plan-view progress photographs of the enormous 6-hectare site, which we have had to split up into 3 separate sections — even when using our widest-angle lens and flying at our maximum permissible altitude of 400ft the site doesn’t fit in a single image, so large is this site!
The before / after images below show two sections of the site, taken back in December (1st image) and earlier this month (2nd image), and it’s clear to see how much progress has been made on the site. This fascinating viewpoint is not only great for helping SoilFix to market their services and demonstrate the scale of the projects they can tackle, but it also provides a useful way of monitoring the project’s progress from a bird’s-eye perspective.
Drone aerial photograph of a soil remediation site in Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire, taken at the beginning of the project — the area is essentially a polluted wasteland. Click to enlarge.
Drone aerial photograph of a soil remediation site in Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire, taken 1/4 the way through the project — the current area of soil cleansing can be seen just above the centre of the image. Click to enlarge.
Drone aerial photograph of a soil remediation site in Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire, taken at the beginning of the project — the area is essentially a polluted wasteland. Click to enlarge.
Drone aerial photograph of a soil remediation site in Tipner, Portsmouth, Hampshire, taken 1/4 the way through the project — the piles of treated soil can clearly be seen in the centre of the image. Click to enlarge.
The remediation process is fascinating — at the start of this project the soil on this site was strewn with large pieces of debris / bricks and other waste, as well as being polluted with chemicals and oil from the factories which used to occupy the site.
If left untreated, this waste would have posed major hazards to any developer wishing to build on the land, including: damage to their machinery, health risks to anyone working on the site who might accidentally come into contact with the contaminated material, and the possible further leaching of contaminents into the sea which surrounds a large proportion of the site.
SoilFix will be working on this site for 66 weeks, carefully digging through all the soil, sifting out any large pieces of waste and rubble, treating the remaining soil with pollutant-neutralising chemicals, and breaking down any remaining contaminents using environmentally-friendly enzymes and bacteria. By the end of this process, the soil left on site will be as safe to build on as a farmer’s field.
Drone aerial photographs of a soil remediation site in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Click to enlarge.
As well as the plan-view aerial photographs of the site which were taken specifically to monitor the progress of the project, during our latest visit we also took a number of oblique aerial photographs (which included the horizon in the images) to give a better idea of the project’s setting — these images can be seen above. Those observant viewers might be able to spot the famous Portsmouth ‘Spinnaker’ tower in the first image!
SoilFix have been delighted with the service we have provided, and have recently sent us this kind testimonial:
“Soilfix have started using the services of Horizon Imaging on one of our current sites in Portsmouth. Horizon have been very attentive during discussions and giving ideas that led into fantastic shots being taken of our site. Soilfix will be using Horizon Imaging on further sites that we operate throughout the U.K.”
Are you involved with large-scale construction / groundworks projects and require imagery to help you monitor the progress of the projects? Or perhaps you just need some professional imagery that captures the complexity and scale of your projects in all their glory? Drop us a line today for a chat about our progress photography packages — from ground level to 400 feet, we have every angle covered.