Military Museum
Mapping London's unexploded bombs
East London recently saw a controlled explosion of the biggest World War II bomb to be found in the city for 30 years. Landmark Information Group's David Mole describes how his company is making a new layer of historical mapping available to help track unexploded ordnance
It is estimated that as many as 10% of the bombs dropped during WWII did not explode, leaving behind a risky legacy for anyone involved in property development and the related environmental due diligence industries. In particular, major construction sites using machinery at substantial depths stand a chance of unearthing an unwelcome memento from the war – especially on urban, brownfield developments.
David Mole, MD Landmark Environment, says: "We believe that more than 21,000 sites may contain unexploded bombs. Those cities worst hit by bombing during the war present the biggest risk, including London, Plymouth, Bristol, Manchester and Birmingham. Crucially, Landmark has been able to unlock this data by digitising thousands of maps at a scale of 1:2,500 and cross referencing with known ruin sites from World War II."
New historical aerial photography flown by the Royal Air Force between 1944 and 1951 is also now available for key cities and installations across the UK. This allows users to identify WWII bomb damage, thereby indicating additional areas of potential risk. This database has been created by digitising photography made available by the British Library and supported by Landmark's own archive.
"This is all valuable intelligence for property developers who may face an increased risk of detonating one of the thousands of unexploded bombs in the country," adds David. "Incidents such as this one at Sugar House Lane in East London^1 - where a digger clearing ground for the 2012 Olympics unearthed the 1,000kg device - demonstrate the need for robust information on potential UXO risks. We expect to see an increasing demand for robust desk study reports on topics such as this."
