HE1080 Ground Intrusive Surveys (Chippenham Futures)

Wiltshire Council will be putting out a Tender for a Contractor to undertake intrusive Ground Investigation (GI) survey and archaeological fieldwork for the proposed distributor road on the east side of Chippenham. The tender is for two pieces of work; an intrusive Ground Investigation (GI) survey and archaeological fieldwork comprising a programme of archaeological monitoring and archaeological investigations. The surveys tender award date is anticipated to be early July 2021, with the survey works starting in September 2021 following standstill period and mobilisation. The appointed Contractor will act as Principal Contractor for the entire works and be responsible for safely coordinating activities on site. The surveys will occur on both Wiltshire Council owned land and private land, with the appointed Contractor required to undertake landowner liaison to gain land access. At this time no fixed route has been decided upon. Access to the majority of exploratory hole positions will be across farmland and agricultural fields and due to the likely time of year the GI will start (Summer/Autumn 2021) under foot ground conditions are not expected to be favourable for the movement of heavy machinery. Once a preferred route has been chosen and access routes agreed, the quantity against this rate will be discussed and agreed between the contractor and the Client. Intrusive GI Surveys are to be undertaken by an experienced GI Contractor. The GI surveys are to be accompanied by archaeological monitoring. The GI surveys are required to enable the collection of ground information including; constancy, strength and strata composition as well as samples for laboratory testing, contamination extents and ground water data for use in the design of the new road section. Intrusive works shall comprise of drilling approximately 90 boreholes, excavating approximately 30 trial pits and undertaking Cone Penetration testing at 9 locations. The archaeological monitoring will be for a formal programme of observation and investigation to be conducted during any operation carried out for non-archaeological reasons within the site, accompanied with geoarchaeological assessment, with associated reporting and sample analysis. The trench evaluation, archaeological monitoring and associated fieldwork are to be undertaken by an experienced Archaeological Contractor. These will include excavating trial trenches, shovel test pitting, geoarchaeological coring and recording of any archaeological features by experienced field archaeologists.