Established 2004

Ruddlesden geotechnical

Ruddlesden geotechnical provides ground investigation, geotechnical consultancy and contamination assessment services.

Based in Exeter, but covering the whole of the UK, albeit primarily concentrated in the South West, Ruddlesden geotechnical was formed in 2004.

Ruddlesden geotechnical works on behalf of a wide client base, including local, regional and national housing developers, housing associations, commercial developers, building contractors, structural and civil engineers, architects, building consultants, quantity surveyors, local authorities and private individuals.

Development projects range from single dwellings and extensions to large housing estates, multi-storey flats, offices, industrial units, roads, slopes, schools, hospitals and basements.

The services and projects listed on this web-site provide an indication of those undertaken by Ruddlesden geotechnical, but others are carried out. If your requirement is not readily identifiable on this web-site, please contact us as we may still be able to help you.

  • AGS
  • Constructionline
  • CSCS
  • SMAS
  • ECFC trust
  • Latest news

    20 Aug 2026

    Start over-winter monitoring before it is too late!

    Look at these groundwater monitoring dataloggers! Whilst some loggers are still in the ground, monitoring groundwater levels all year round, these lot were taken out of their boreholes in May or June this year, once they had proven that they had recorded the seasonal groundwater peaks.As we come towards the end of a particularly dry summer, it might seem difficult to think about monitoring groundwater levels when conditions are at their wettest. But there is considerable benefit in starting over-winter groundwater monitoring sooner rather than later.. One year, the seasonal groundwater peak will be in November, and if the loggers don’t go in the ground before then, they won’t be able to record this!With Ruddlesden geotechnical, there is no financial benefit in delaying the start of over-winter groundwater monitoring; we charge the same to start monitoring in September as we do in December

    Start over-winter monitoring before it is too late!
    Start over-winter monitoring before it is too late!
  • Recent projects

    Foundation Works Risk Assessment Allows Development to Proceed

    Ruddlesden geotechnical were commissioned to undertake a Foundation Works Risk Assessment for a proposed commercial development within the centre of Cirencester. The development was to include the installation of piled foundations to support the proposed buildings. The Environment Agency were concerned that the installation of the piled foundations could mobilise contaminants within an overlying thickness of made ground into the underlying Secondary A Aquifer (Forest Marble Formation) and potentially cause contamination to the water environment. Ruddlesden produced a Foundation Works Risk Assessment in accordance with the Environment Agency’s published guidance document. This included the production of a detailed conceptual site model (CSM) and identifying the potential scenarios and pollutant linkages that could occur as a result of the piling works. The risk assessment suggested that the piling contractor’s chosen piling method could foreseeably cause contamination of the underlying aquifer, as a result of displacing/ pushing contaminated soils down into it. Following the risk assessment, an alternative (non-displacement/ replacement) method of piling was proposed which would mitigate the risks of contaminating the underlying aquifer. This risk assessment was approved by the Environment Agency and local authorityand allowed the works to continue as proposed.

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  • Recent projects

    Asbestos Testing Allays the Concerns of Locals

    As part of a larger contamination investigation and assessment for the residential development of a former power station, asbestos testing was undertaken. Anecdotally, asbestos containing materials (ACMs) arising from the decommissioning of the former power station had been encapsulated in a buried concrete chamber. Concerns were raised by locals and the local authority about how safe this was and whether the proposed development would endanger the general public, end users and construction workers. Intensive asbestos investigation and assessment, undertaken in accordance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR, 2012) and which included asbestos quantification testing, identified that the proposed remedial strategy to mitigate other contaminants at the site, which included raising the site levels and capping with inert soil, would also protect from the low levels of asbestos recorded in the soil., with no further measures required protect end users. The asbestos testing also enabled safe methods of working to be determined for construction workers.

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