ok folks i need to find some under ground footings of a house that used to be in a field ,i know the easiest way would be to jcb the top soil off but is there any way of xraying the ground to find the footings

ariel photos will show up shallow ruins, deeper you will need scans of some sort. Call in tony robinson!

yup, was watching time team last night - the geophysics guys walk about proding the ground with some clever sticks that check the density of the ground and can pick up denser material ie stone and/or different material due to infill which would tell you. No idea where to comemercially get this kind of survey/service or how much it costs?! As for aerial views - tried google earth and zoomed in?!

Ned.

"you need some of these"



Description

[Edited on 13/3/06 by muzchap]

i was reading in new scientist about a device that could tell from a plane what the density of the ground below was, by measuring gravity - can you imagine how hard that is?! used to find diamonds.

so it can find dime bars from 3 miles up then?

Ground Penetrating Radar - outlined by Ned as used by time team

The yellow things the water board and power services use might pick something up. I've seen them waving them about for different purposes.

Depending on the soil type and moisture you can get a long way with a thin steel rod shoved into the ground - need to know roughly where the house was obviously.

Timeteam use two types IIRC, the radar thing, and a simpler resistance measurement.

I don't think that footings gurgle much, nor do they give off much electromagnetic radiation.



I suggest a trench across where you suspect the footings may be, and carry on from there - still a Time Team approach, but a bit more practical!

David

quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
The yellow things the water board and power services use might pick something up. I've seen them waving them about for different purposes.

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CAT scans prob wont pick it up,i have seen people using bent peices of stainless steel rod like water deviners.....before you all laugh,i tried it and it worked for water

Have you got a mate with a plane? will show up for sure from the air. Or start a rumour about buried treasure in the field and let some mug dig for you

cheers for the help.i'd best get digging

I was thinking it probably had services to it, an ordinary metal detector might show something up if there was lead pipework.

just had a price for a ground radar team to come and have a look.£1500 a day ,so i rang a m8 and he said i can borrow his mini digger,i dont think i'll be at the controls tho,,,its not fast anough

I'm with Iank on this one. Set out a grid with string or spray paint over the site.

Get a bit of mild steel bar, about 1200mm long and 15mm dia, bend a handle into the end and poke it into the ground. Assuming the soil isn't frozen you should be able to push it well down into the soil. When you find a point where you can't get it in too far have a bit of a dig. It'll either be a rock or a bit of the founds.

HTH

Mike