English Heritage has recently published guidance on Piling and Archaeology.   This guidance has been prepared to assist planning and archaeological officers, developers and their consultants on the relative merits of a range of piled foundations.  

The guidance contains sections summarising a range of pile types, their impacts upon archaeological deposits, and a range of mitigation options available to manage and reduce these impacts.  Case studies are provided to illustrate some mitigation strategies, along with a summary of best practice and recommendations for further research.  The guidance draws on field and laboratory scale research carried out over the last 10 years, and provides guidance based on up to date understanding of piling impacts and the most appropriate methods of mitigating these affects.

The guidance is available in hard copy from English Heritage customer services department (0870 3331181; customer@english-heritage.or.uk) or in digital format from the English Heritage web site:

(http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/Piling_for_Web_tagged.pdf [3mb])

and from the EH guidance section of the HELM web site (www.helm.org.uk).  

This guidance was produced by Jim Williams, Jane Sidell (both EH) and Ian Panter (formerly EH now York Archaeological Trust).

for further information contact

Dr Jim Williams, jim.williams@english-heritage.org.uk 07801 213300