Jan 11
25
This is a post about some interesting and alarming information I found recently in an article in “Sensors & Software Subsurface Views” which I thought our readers would be interest in. It’s about a potential Time Bomb under German soil.
In 1944 and 1945 many German cities were bombed by the allies. Experts estimate that 15% of these bombs did not detonate. Here’s the alarming part… this means there could be 100,000 bombs still lying undetected somewhere in the ground.
Geophysical surveys are routinely carried out before construction works in these heavily-bombed areas in Germany. Although these surveys are surprisingly not required by German law, they are performed for the protection of the construction workers and to avoid problems with insurance.
Since many constructions sites contain linear iron objects (old pipelines, fences, reinforced concrete buildings, etc.) detections with ferrous locators is not possible. This is why in this case Sensors & Software’s Noggin ground penetrating radar was used.
A recent Noggin GPR survey was conducted on a site where a BMW fabrication plant stood during WWII. The GPR survey located a 1000 lb US demolition bomb at a shallow depth. Careful uncovering of the bomb revealed that it had one nose and one tail pistol still functioning. It was defused and removed from the site. Soon after this survey two more bombs were found!
