Crossrail lent a hand to the Natural History museum recently by providing soil samples for the re-opening of the museum's Palaeontology department, following extensive building renovations.
Palaeontology is the study of fossils, and experts from the museum have been working with Crossrail geotechnical advisors and engineers to analyse the soil strata along the entire length of the crossrail route.
The mission for Crossrail’s engineers is to develop tunnelling and construction techniques to overcome the challenges presented by the ground conditions.
Norman Haste, Cross London Rail Link’s (CLRL) chief executive, said: ‘The methods devised to overcome these obstacles will put Crossrail at the forefront of engineering, and geotechnical design.’
The samples demonstrate an excellent example of London geology including River Terrace Deposits, Alluvium, London Clay and Chalk. They have been obtained by a dedicated team of Crossrail geologists and engineers by drilling boreholes beneath London and the Thames.
The museum’s palaentology consultancy team has extensive experience of biostratigraphy - the recognition of fossils and the relative position of their occurrences in space and time. The department is now expanding into new areas such as civil engineering and the quarrying industries and the event on the 19th October showcased all aspects of the research and consultancy undertaken.
Jackie Skipper, Consultancy Leader for the Department, commented: ‘Visitors – even professional geologists – often don’t realise how much goes on behind the scenes at the museum.’
* Crossrail is planning further site investigation works from November 2004 to January 2005 in Newham and Tower Hamlets. These works are required In order to gain a thorough understanding of what ground conditions can be expected in tunneling.
More information on Crossrail is available from its 24-hours, 7-days a week helpdesk on 0845 602 3813 and or via helpdesk@crossrail.co.uk. Background information on the scheme is also available at www.crossrail.co.uk. Information about Crossrail is available in other languages including Bengali, Chinese (Traditional), Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic and Vietnamese. It is also available in Braille, large print version or audio.
Ends
Issued 5 November 2004
For further information contact the Crossrail 24-hours, 7-days a week helpdesk on 0845 602 3813 or helpdesk@crossrail.co.uk.
- Cross London Rail Links Ltd is a 50/50 joint venture company between Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT). The company has been allocated £154m from the Department for Transport’s 10-Year Plan to carry out feasibility work for Crossrail Lines 1 and 2 and to acquire powers for Crossrail Line 1.
