Cover systems for land regeneration - thickness of cover systems for contaminated land (BR465)

BRE (Building Research Establishment) is an independent, research-based consultancy, testing and training organisation, operating in the built environment and associated industries.

On 22 March 2004, BRE published; Cover systems for land regeneration - thickness of cover systems for contaminated land (BR465), written by P Tedd, P Witherington, D Earle, S Hollingsworth, B Furlong, L Bradley, H Mallett and D Laidler. It was prepared by RSK ENSR Ltd on behalf of the Association of Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Specialists (AGS) in partnership with BRE.

Cover systems can reduce the risk to human health posed by contaminated land and provide a medium for plant growth. However, poor design can result in unnecessarily thick, or inadequate cover.

BR465 can be used to help assess the need for cover systems and to determine their thickness. It is intended for simple cover systems on brownfield sites where exposure to contamination needs to be reduced. It is not appropriate for sites where exposure to contamination must be completely prevented.

The booklet comes with a CD ROM which includes:

A powerpoint presentation setting the scene and introducing the study that led to the development of the methodology.
A report detailing; the findings of an in-depth study of design approaches, a literature review and on-site research; proposing a simple method for designing cover thickness, a more rigorous spreadsheet-based method and a worked example.
A spreadsheet enabling the design of combinations of cover thickness and ground contamination for a wide range of contaminants.