The ground investigation sector is in danger of overheating, the British Drilling Association (BDA) says.
The BDA says that with numerous large infrastructure projects expected to start this year, the site/ground investigation sector may not be large enough or have the capacity to accommodate projected demand.
The association is calling for greater planning and scheduling – as well as patience – for demand to meet supply.
BDA chair Anne Baxter said: “Whilst the BDA welcomes the optimistic outlook for the construction sector, with many delayed projects now getting the green light and large-scale projects such as HS2, nationwide transport infrastructure, airport expansion such as Heathrow, as well as projects across the nuclear sector and general workload due to start too, with these overlapping there is the potential for demand overload.”
She said: “Present site/ground investigation capacity, whilst considerable, is not large enough to cope with the demand of so many projects all expected to commence in parallel to each other. Lack of capacity could lead to project delays, price inflations and well as impacting on the wider economy, which has hung some much growth on the forecasted progression of these projects.”
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