The following article is by UXOInfo.com Guest Author Maarten Bosma

The Netherlands Currently there is a very unique UXO clearance project on-going at a former WWII era mock German airport that was setup to support munitions training during the war. The site is one of several former airfields in The Netherlands that contain UXO from previous training exercises.

A magnetometer survey was completed at the site to identify buried UXO including a magnetometer survey conducted from the ground surface as well as magnetometer probing to get an accurate picture of the number, size and locations of UXO at the site. Magnetometer probing is a process by which a specialized magnetometer based probe is pushed through the ground to gather readings in real time along the z-axis.

This process provides for a more accurate picture of the subsurface anomalies at the site. The image to the right shows the implementation of magnetometer probing at a UXO site.

For the mock German airfield site, a grid size was 2.5 meters by 2.5 meters was selected for the magnetometer probing with the maximum average depth of each probe reading ranging between 8 to 10 meters or until the probes reached a sand layer with a density less than 10 MPa.

The survey team developed a 3D visualization based upon the magnetometer data using Voxler software to plot the calculated size, depth, and location of UXOs buried at the site. A sample of a 3D plot from the site is shown below. The 3D visualization is useful for developing safety and risk profiles for the site as it shows where the spatial relationship between UXOs at the site.

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Article By: UXO Guest Author Maarten Bosma, Bombs Away.

First of all, I want to thank UXOInfo.com for their hospitality when I met them during my stay in the United States (US). I found it very interesting to talk to them and get some more inside information about the way UXO clearance works in the US. I've learned that there are many differences between the Dutch and the American regulations in the field. So in this article, I want to explore one of the main differences - the certification or qualifications for UXO personnel.

In the US, UXO personnel qualifications are established by the U.S. Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB) which is outlined in Technical Paper 18 (TP 18). The DDESB defines seven UXO positions (UXO Sweeper; UXO Technician Level 1, 2, and 3; UXOSO; UXOQCS; and SUXOS) with the levels primarily based upon years of experience. TP-18 recognizes military EOD training from a very limited number of countries outside of the US - Canada, Great Britain, Germany, or Australia as well as civilian UXO training. The US does not require any testing and/or certifications from UXO workers outside of the OSHA requirements and added quality training for the UXOQCS position.

In The Netherlands, UXO qualifications are governed by the VEO (Vereniging voor Explosieven Opsporing) which is a governing body that has a commission of experts who provide advice on new regulations. The Dutch Army EOD is also represented in the commission. In The Netherlands, personnel who perform UXO detection surveys and identification of UXO in the field fall into three different levels or categories:

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Article by Guest Author Maarten Bosma.

In the field of UXO detection, the most common detection technique in The Netherlands is magnetometry. The advantage of this kind of survey is that in the right conditions you can get quick results about the possible presence of UXO in a location. But as I have explained, you need to be working in the right conditions to get the best results. When you need to perform a survey on a location close to a building, for example, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to use the magnetometry techniques.

To get some results in those locations we need to use different techniques and one of those techniques is GPR. In this article I will show you some brief results of a GPR test we performed with the IDS Himod. This is a dual frequency system with a 200 and 600 Mhz antenna.

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