Certification Scheme for Explosive Remnants of War Preliminary Investigation and Risk Analysis
With the introduction of the Certification Scheme for Detection of Explosive Remnants of War (CS-OOO) as of 01-01-2021, there are many changes regarding the regulations for explosives testing. This also applies to the preliminary examination. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has decided not to include the requirements for the preliminary investigation from the former WSCS-OCE in the new CS-OOO. Consequently, the Voluntary Certification Scheme for the Preliminary Investigation and Risk Analysis of Explosive Remnants of War (CS-VROO) has been drawn up by the VOMES Foundation. With this, pre-investigations and risk analyses are subject to requirements and externally audited by TUV-Nederland to guarantee quality. A thorough preliminary investigation and risk analysis ultimately translates into an accurate insight into the OO that may be encountered. This insight leads to a cost reduction during the execution by preventing stagnation of the unexpected discovery of OO or eliminating the risk with a reduced detection effort. Therefore, ECG is certified in accordance with the CS-VROO. You can read more information about the CS-VROO here.
Unique cooperation on the tracks
In the vicinity of the railway crossing at Rijksweg Noord in Elst, various construction activities are currently being phased. The level crossing at1e Weteringsewal has already been replaced by a viaduct and several crossroads have been redesigned. In addition, more than one kilometre of Rijksweg-Noord will be reconstructed and the level crossing replaced by a subway.
The role of ECG
As of September 2017, ECG has carried out various investigative activities on behalf of the municipality of Overbetuwe in order to remove any remaining World War II explosives from the above-mentioned work site. Indeed, various ground battles and artillery bombardments took place on site in the period 1944-1945. Therefore, prior to the planned construction work, an increased chance of finding unexploded munitions from World War II was assumed.
For ECG, this project was a nice challenge, partly because all the disciplines that our company has in house were involved. The lion's share of the work consisted of analogue and digital detection work. In addition, underwater detection was carried out using divers, and digital water bottom and depth detection took place. The work was complex because of the many types of ammunition expected and the many obstacles in the terrain. In addition, work was carried out during 'train-free hours' in order to disrupt train traffic as little as possible. There was pleasant cooperation with various parties, including Salisbury Archaeology, Heijmans, Van den Heuvel and the combination of Mobilis and Hegeman.
A "good harvest
The fact that the work was not in vain is clear from the large quantity of ammunition items that emerged here and there from the former war zone. Among the items found were 10.5 cm and 15 cm brisant grenades, as well as hand grenades and ammunition for grenade launchers such as PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) grenades. In total, approximately 60 brisant, mortar and hand grenades or remnants thereof were found. These items of ammunition were handed over in good order to the Explosives Clearing Service of the Ministry of Defence (EODD), who took care of destroying the ordnance.
In this way, ECG continues to make an active contribution to a nicer, safer and tidier living and working environment!
Project de Waalboog
We are pleased to congratulate the Mobility for All Foundation (MVI) on the lettering of their new care bus. MVI specialises in care for people with complex care needs or behavioural problems. In the Nijmegen region, they offer care and treatment at people's homes, in residential care centres, in specialist care and (day) treatment centres and in a hospice. Clients and residents at De Waalboog are elderly people with physical and/or mental disabilities, younger people with dementia and people who need palliative care. To be able to transport these people, the foundation started an action to realise the necessary wheelchair bus. Many parties have contributed to this and we are proud to see our name on the care bus!
You can read more about the Mobility for All Foundation and the 'de Waalboog' project here
ECG digitises 30,000 cull reports
The EODD disarms explosives from the Second World War more than 2,000 times a year. So-called clearance reports are made, keeping track of where the explosives have been cleared. ECG has digitised 30,000 of these clearances in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and made them rapidly searchable for historical preliminary research. The information about previously cleared explosives is of great importance in determining whether there is an increased risk of finding explosives in a work area.
Rush job in Twente
At the edge of Lonnekerberg near Twenthe airfield, a landowner intended to carry out extensive groundwork on his plot. The wish was to install a drainage system at a depth of 1.5 metres. In view of the location of the plot near Twenthe airfield, the owner contacted the safety officer of the municipality of Enschede.
The municipality acted immediately by involving ECG to carry out the explosives investigation. The job was under pressure, given the time of year and the owner's planning to install drainage, plough and sow the land. As a result, ECG had a maximum of 10 days to prepare the work, detect and approach 6 hectares of land and secure any ammunition found.
Within 5 working days, the OCE experts of ECG had finished the job. Because a large number of aerial bombs were dropped during a bombardment in August 1944, the area was suspected of containing projectile ammunition. That the label 'suspicious area' was not unjustified was proven by the finds. For example, an American 250 lb brisant bomb and a French brisant grenade from a 60 mm mortar were secured. The aerial bomb was found at a depth of almost 4 metres and appeared to be exceptionally well preserved due to the clay soil. The sprayed letters and markings were clearly legible and the detonators (nose and tail tube) shiny. After the explosives had been reported and checked by the EODD, the plot could be handed over. As a result, the owner could start the planned work in a safe and responsible manner, well within the expected time.
ECG did everything it could to comply with the wishes of the municipality and the landowner to detect and approach the relevant plots quickly, after which the owner was able to install his drainage system and plant maize on the plots. In this way, ECG was able to scale up the project by going from 1 approach team to 2 teams and, due to the cancellation of another project, they could start a day earlier. As the municipality, we were very pleased with the communication with us and the surrounding area and the fast approach to this project. We also very much appreciated the fact that the ECG employees informed the surrounding area about the results of the approach', says Mr M.C. de Jong, Senior Technical and Information Advisor Soil, Water, Explosives & Geology at the municipality of Enschede.
A special find at Soesterberg Air Base
Commissioned by the Province of Utrecht and the Dutch Government Property Agency, ECG in cooperation with BAAC (Building History, Archaeology, Architectural History and Cultural History) conducted excavation work under archaeological supervision at the former Soesterberg airbase. While ECG approached the suspected munitions sites and actively searched for Conventional Explosives (CE), BAAC staff concentrated on the archaeologically valuable finds from the approach and recording them. On Tuesday 11 February, BAAC's conflict archaeologists made an extraordinary discovery.
For weeks, ECG and BAAC have been working together in this way at the former Soesterberg airbase. During the research, German anti-aircraft positions(Flak-Stellungen) were found and carefully mapped. The foundations of pre-war buildings were also found within the research area. These buildings were demolished by the occupying forces during the war for the construction of Fliegerhorst Soesterberg, the German airfield. All that remained of the houses were the foundations and a few large pits filled with building rubble and household waste. Between the old household goods, a special and exceptionally well-preserved black uniform jacket was found. The jacket once belonged to a Dutch sergeant-major of the Aviation Department (LVA) who served at the pre-war airfield. The jacket dates from the 1920s or 1930s and still has all the old Dutch brass 'lion buttons' and two chevrons (nicknamed banana peels). The chevrons are at the bottom of the sleeves and are stitched with gold-coloured copper wire.
Figure 1: One of the chevrons.
Picture 2: Lion's knot
BAAC has documented this remarkable find and removed it for further investigation. The jacket is being conserved so that it can be preserved and put on public display at a later date. Additional archival research will hopefully make it possible to attribute the jacket to one specific person.
For more information about BAAC, please visit:
www.baac.nl (archaeological research)
A complicated bomb disposal at Gilze Rijen airport
In February 2020, Explosive Clearance Group started the approach work around the runway at Gilze Rijen Airport as part of the Replace Aircraft Braking System project of the Government Property Agency.
Gilze Rijen, once a large Fliegerhorst, was for many years the accommodation for the so-called KGs (Kampfgeschwaders: squadrons with bombers). Also fighter planes and night fighters made eager use of the Brabant airfield. Therefore Gilze-Rijen airfield has been the target of the Allies more than once.
Fliegerhorst is the German name for a large air force base. The designation originated before the Second World War. It was the designation of a German military airfield with the status of a self-sufficient extended main airfield.
Because the project area is suspected of containing Conventional Explosives (CE), Heijmans Bodem started by carrying out non-real-time detection. During the detection, several suspect objects were detected. And so it happened that ECG, under the leadership of senior OCE expert Henk Kloosterboer, approached various suspect objects on the military airfield. The flight movements of the Royal Netherlands Air Force also had to be able to continue unhindered during the search activities. A complicated assignment that, thanks to the efforts and close cooperation of the State Property Agency with ECG, was a success.
The approaches resulted in finds such as metal Allied flight strips, waste and ammunition items. For example, 3 British Target Indicators (TI) of 250 lbs and also an American 1000 lbs aerial bomb with a tail and a nose tube (ignition) were found. However, all alarm bells went off when a British 500 lbs brisant bomb with a sensitive detonator was identified. This aerial bomb was located on the most unfavourable location on the airfield because of the many surrounding vital Defence cables.
Sensitive detonator
The 500 lbs aerial bomb found was equipped with a broken tail gun (mechanism with a detonator), the No.37 with an anti-detonator. The detonator works by pulverising a glass ampoule with a rotating impeller, after which a chemical substance is released and dissolves a celluloid disc. Once this disc has been sufficiently damaged, a pre-tensioned firing pin spring can strike a percussion cap, initiating detonation.
Together with the State Property Agency, the EODD, Defence, various stakeholders and ECG, a solution was sought that was as efficient and safe as possible. The nature of the ammunition that was found, the location between the vital cables of the Ministry of Defence, the planned flight movements and the 'Swift Blade' event that was taking place at the time led to the application of an appropriate and rapid method. This solution turned out to be a 'Terp construction'. A tried and tested method used by ECG more often.
A Mound construction is a special, custom-built construction in which the EODD can ultimately carry out its work with extra security. It is a construction that holds back the bomb fragments and directs the resulting air pressure in a controlled manner in a safe direction.
The bomb disposal finally took place during the following weekend, when the fewest aircraft movements took place at the airport. From Friday to Sunday morning, work continued diligently to build up the protective Terp. As agreed, everything was ready in time and on Sunday morning, the EODD specialists were able to successfully dismantle the detonators in the protective structure in complete safety. This feat was performed by the military with the help of water cutting. Finally, the EODD removed the bomb bodies and destroyed them in a controlled manner on the Oirschotse Heide. After everyone had left, ECG dismantled the mound and the Air Force was able to use its runway again on Monday.
"The total package of work was carried out to the full satisfaction of the client, the State Property Agency," said Mr Kerkhoven, project manager of the State Property Agency.
ECG during coronary crisis
The corona crisis and the associated restrictions have been in place for several months now. During this period, ECG has taken the necessary measures to be able to continue working in a responsible manner. We have done this by setting up a corona grid with a maximum number of jobs. This stimulates working at home as much as possible. In addition, protection plates have been placed between the desks and disinfection columns have been placed along the footpaths in the building. All this means that, despite this unusual period, ECG can continue its work and, fortunately, can continue to do so in a responsible manner.