Time and cost benefits can be achieved by the imaginative use of a broad range of services for geotechnical and geophysical data gathering for offshore wind farm sites. Today, there is a comprehensive range of services available to acquire engineering data for the planning, installation and post-construction monitoring of offshore wind farm structures. Applied systematically, each stage of investigation will add to the understanding of the ground model for the site and will help to fine-tune and target the requirements for any subsequent investigations.

By Tony Hodgson, Project Manager, Fugro Engineering Services and Ed Cookson, Heathrow Communications, UK