Latest New Build News

Drilling for Oil in Poole? - June 2nd 2008

Nothing sinister! The drill rigs
appearing at The Bournemouth
and Poole College are just for soil
sampling.

Recent visits to The Bournemouth and Poole College could have left you wondering if a wealth of ‘black gold’ had been discovered at the Poole campus.

A large drill structure has been sighted at various locations across the North Road site, leading to speculation about its purpose.

The College’s Director of Marketing, Julie-Anne Houldey said, “We’ve had some interesting comments made by people curious to see the rigs set up. However, rest assured we are not drilling for oil. It is completely innocuous, and is simply soil sampling as part of the preparatory work being conducted for our exciting new build programme.”

The rigs have been set up to carry out soil investigation works which will determine the type and size of the foundations required for the impressive multi-million pound development.

Julie-Anne added, “The structural engineers make recommendations based on known geological data, and these soil samples that are drilled out are subsequently sent for laboratory testing and analysis to back up their engineering plans. It is the first step of physically seeing some initial work on the site. As with any major structural development, there is always a lot of preparation involved. The next phase will be when the diggers actually move on site, subject to all appropriate planning consents. That will truly be a day to celebrate!”

Plans for both the restoration and new build project at the Lansdowne, and the demolition and new build at Poole have been submitted to the respective local authorities.