Historically, flood risk management in the United Kingdom has mainly concentrated on river and coastal flooding, yet flooding from surface water runoff is a risk to urban areas. A comprehensive study of the causes, the impact and the consequences as well as the management of serious pluvial flooding in Heywood, Greater Manchester, in 2004 and 2006 revealed that the victims of the floods were unprepared, ill‐informed and confused as to responsibilities before, during and after the event. Householders had to rely on their insurers for loss mitigation, but the response of the insurance industry was varied and inconsistent, and there were difficulties in building in resilience after the event. In 2006, only one property was on the Office of the Water Regulator DG 5 Register on the basis of previous flooding. Thus the area falls between the responsibilities of the Local Authority (LA), the Environment Agency and the water utility. The people affected do not know whom to turn to for assistance. A way forward may be through the establishment of an overriding agency to provide a coherent voice and strategic guidance, supported by dedicated flooding experts within LA planning departments, the adaptation of buildings for flood resilience and through changes within the insurance industry.

No abstract

This paper outlines an investigation into monitoring the moisture condition of cement-based materials using impedance spectroscopy techniques. Impedance measurements are made over the frequency range 20 Hz-110 MHz, and several parameters identified which could characterise the moisture condition of such materials.

No abstract

In England and Wales, the construction industry produces 53.5 Mt of construction and demolition waste (C&D waste) annually, of which 51 percent goes to landfill, 40 percent is used for land reclamation and only 9 percent is crushed for future use or directly recovered. C&D waste may be contaminated, either through spillage from industrial processes or contact with contaminated land. There are no guidelines on how to classify C&D waste as contaminated or on risk management for contaminated C&D waste. Research at the UK Building Research Establishment and the University of Manchester has shown that new taxes are making disposal of C&D waste to landfill uneconomic, that low grade``land-modelling'' recycling is increasing, and that disposal on-site is preferred. Sampling spatially of structures before demolition and temporally of processed C&D waste emerging from crushers is enabling sources of contamination and exceedance of guideline values to be compared with natural background levels. Improved sampling procedures and recommendations for risk assessment for the re-use of C&D waste are being prepared.