tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/aberdeenshire-23755/articlesAberdeenshire – The Conversation2017-12-01T16:31:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/883372017-12-01T16:31:44Z2017-12-01T16:31:44ZStoring carbon under the North Sea: are wrong sites being looked at?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197347/original/file-20171201-17360-1b14j75.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">belfastlough via Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change is to prevent carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere by capturing and storing it. There <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/651916/BEIS_The_Clean_Growth_online_12.10.17.pdf">are now</a> 21 large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities either operating or being built around the world, including in the US, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia. </p>
<p>The UK looked like joining them until the government <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-38687835">cancelled</a> its £1 billion competition in 2015 which had intended to lead to deployment of the technology. In October, however, a new £100m commitment was announced, potentially benefiting CCS projects in <a href="https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/projects/caledonia-clean-energy-project">Grangemouth</a>, <a href="http://www.teessidecollective.co.uk">Teesside</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-41167176">Aberdeenshire</a>. </p>
<p>This includes a cost reduction drive aimed at having a fleet of CCS facilities by the 2030s. The UK government also recently published a new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/modern-industrial-strategy-to-boost-business-support-for-scotland">industrial strategy</a> placing clean energy systems including carbon capture at its heart; and the Scottish government has continually promoted and supported feasibility studies. </p>
<p>The three current UK proposals all seek to store the carbon dioxide (CO₂) offshore, probably still the simplest option for the country. But it comes with a major presumption – that the geology works and the gas won’t escape. </p>
<h2>Performing seals</h2>
<p>The offshore options on the table are depleted petroleum fields and saline aquifers – massive porous sedimentary rock formations saturated with salt water. The petroleum fields are closed-off “traps” that sit within these aquifers. Potentially this makes traps more secure for storage, but aquifers have vastly more storage capacity and may well be required to store CO₂ in substantial quantities. </p>
<p>The Grangemouth and Aberdeenshire projects are both looking at depleted fields in the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland, while Teesside is looking at the Triassic Bunter Sandstone saline aquifer off east England in the southern North Sea. The two leading proposals in the UK government’s previous competition had similar plans – a <a href="https://sequestration.mit.edu/tools/projects/peterhead.html">Shell/SSE Aberdeenshire project</a> would have used the Moray Firth while <a href="https://www.globalccsinstitute.com/projects/white-rose-ccs-project">White Rose</a> in Yorkshire would have used Triassic Bunter. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196953/original/file-20171129-29134-1q36qd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Electric dreams.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ukccsrc.ac.uk/news-events/news/wales-and-ccs">Sitiardi21</a></span>
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<p>Oil and gas is trapped in a field or saline aquifer by <a href="http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Terms/s/seal.aspx">a robust seal</a> – a layer of fairly impermeable rock surrounding the reservoir. To store CO₂ securely, it must not be able to leak or react with the seal either now or in future – or escape up faults that break the seal or leak along borehole walls. </p>
<p>It is essential to completely understand the physical properties and general integrity of seals in relation to CO₂. After all, it is a more mobile and smaller molecule (0.28nm) than gases more commonly trapped in petroleum reservoirs such as methane (0.38nm) or longer chained hydrocarbons. </p>
<p>Some gas accumulations do contain CO₂, which points to where storage will be viable. The Fizzy and Oak discoveries in the southern North Sea are examples, as are the North Morecambe and Rhyl gas fields in the East Irish Sea Basin off north-west England. </p>
<p>On the other hand, there was no CO₂ in the Goldeneye field in the Moray Firth that Shell/SSE considered. There are no indications that the adjacent Atlantic field proposed for the Grangemouth and Aberdeenshire projects contains CO₂ either. If not, was CO₂ once housed there and leaked? Or if it was never there, can we be confident CO₂ injection is safe?</p>
<p>Another potential issue is chemical reaction. Seals are unlikely to react with hydrocarbons because they are inert. But carbon dioxide reacts with water to produce carbonic acid, which may severely corrode the top seal and allow the gas an unwelcome return to the atmosphere. It all depends on what the seal is made of. The seal for Goldeneye and Atlantic, the Rodby Formation, is carbonate-rich so has reactive potential. </p>
<h2>Aquifer anxieties</h2>
<p>Aquifers are not traps but large migration pathways for oil and gas. Their vast storage potential has led some <a href="http://www.sccs.org.uk/images/expertise/reports/progressing-scotlands-co2/ProgressingScotlandCO2Opps.pdf">to champion</a> them as more attractive sites for carbon storage. The aquifer in which the Goldeneye and Atlantic fields sits is known as the Lower Cretaceous Captain Sandstone. Some <a href="https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-154539-MS">suggest</a> it could store 1,700m tonnes of CO₂ – <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/uk-carbon-emissions-fall-1894-first-petrol-powered-car-patent-greenhouse-gases-environment-climate-a7614066.html">around</a> five years of UK emissions. Goldeneye, in contrast, <a href="https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2425884/goldeneye-north-sea-reservoir-suitable-for-ccs-project-says-independent-review">only had an estimated</a> capacity of about 20m tonnes.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1190/INT-2017-0009.1">new mapping suggests</a> we should be cautious about the Captain Sandstone. The Moray Firth is riddled with faults reactivated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/there-may-be-a-huge-flaw-in-uk-fracking-hopes-the-geology-80591">the uplift and easterly tilt</a> that took place in Britain some 55m years ago. </p>
<p>These are evident in the seismic image of the Moray Firth below. The top of the picture shows the boreholes in the various oil drilling concessions. The coloured bands underneath are different rock formations – the yellow band with red lines on either side is the Captain Sandstone. The black lines cutting through the Captain Sandstone are fault lines that potentially allow CO₂ a route out. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197298/original/file-20171201-10155-17jlqfo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Underhill/Heriot Watt University</span></span>
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<p>The next image shows the same area but east-west instead of north-south and shows that the Captain Sandstone rises up to the seabed. This raises more concerns about leakage. And like the depleted fields within it, the carbonate-rich formation sealing the entire aquifer is susceptible to corrosion from carbonic acid. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197301/original/file-20171201-10155-pldwrk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Underhill/Heriot Watt University</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.agr.com/Papers/Planning%20for%20Commercial%20Scale%20CO2%20Storage%20in%20North%20Sea%20Saline%20Aquifer.pdf">Enthusiasts</a> for the Triassic Bunter Sandstone aquifer in the southern North Sea face the same issue as it is affected by the same tilt as the Captain Sandstone – causing it to rise to the sea floor, a few kilometres off east England. </p>
<p>Plans to store CO₂ in either aquifer are therefore premature. It is better to look to use large traps containing CO₂ like Rhyl and North Morecambe in the East Irish Sea, where an active CO₂ gas processing plant already exists at Barrow. </p>
<p>When the country reaches the stage of a demonstrator project, it really needs to succeed. An early leakage could destroy national confidence in CCS. This means obtaining the best possible geological understanding of the sites and prioritising those fields that contain CO₂ already. </p>
<p>In some cases, these are places where drilling has found CO₂ ruling out commercial extraction of oil or gas. As such, the potential exists to turn an exploration failure into a storage opportunity and extend the life of the North Sea.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Richard Underhill's research has been undertaken in collaboration with Gustavo Rojas, who is in receipt of a PhD studentship investigating the subsurface geology of the Moray Firth from the Scottish Overseas Research Scholarship Awards Scheme (SORSAS).
</span></em></p>It may be just as well the UK government scrapped its previous carbon capture competition.John Richard Underhill, Chief Scientist & Professor of Exploration Geoscience, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/602922016-06-01T13:15:15Z2016-06-01T13:15:15ZHow Donald Trump’s shock politics are stalling his ambitions in world golf<p>The media circus surrounding Donald Trump’s bid for the US presidency is briefly switching from America to the £200m reopening of a golf resort in south-west Scotland. Trump Turnberry, as it has been renamed, boasts a remodelled course and a substantially upgraded five-star hotel and spa. The man himself is <a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/donald-trump-set-make-fly-7970456">reportedly</a> to fly in for a grand ceremony on June 24. </p>
<p>Turnberry is among 18 golf courses that belong to <a href="https://www.trumpgolf.com">The Trump Organization</a> in the US, Scotland, Ireland and Dubai. It represents his best chance of landing the British men’s Open Championship, the only one of the four golf majors to take place outside the US. </p>
<p>Then came his campaign for the Republican nomination. Though golf’s ruling body in the UK has avoided commenting on that situation, Turnberry’s immediate future as an Open destination <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/feb/22/open-donald-trump-turnberry-2022">is arguably</a> in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2016/02/24/european-tour-rips-up-scottish-open-plans-after-donald-trump-fur/">doubt</a>, despite it having played host four times, most recently <a href="http://www.turnberry.co.uk/british-open-championship-2009">in 2009</a>. Given that Trump’s golf courses are at the heart of a global property and hotels empire, events in this quiet corner of Scotland look like an interesting case study in the risks of mixing business and presidential ambition. </p>
<h2>Trump in the rough</h2>
<p>Insulting Mexicans and Muslims might have played well with some blue-collar Americans fed up with cookie-cutter politicians and afraid of terrorism and losing their jobs to illegal immigrants, but it may not be going down well with the ruling bodies of golf. The sport is increasingly keen to lose its white men’s elitist image and embrace far corners of the world – witness the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-36340197">recent embarrassing row</a> over allowing female members at Muirfield Golf Club in the east of Scotland. </p>
<p>Turnberry has already come perilously close to losing one major championship since Trump <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-27203208">purchased the resort</a> in 2014. The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) <a href="http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/lpga-rather-women%E2%80%99s-british-not-be-held-trump-turnberry-too-late-switch/">openly contemplated</a> withdrawing the British Women’s Open last July in protest at his <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/11737589/Why-Donald-Trump-is-wrong-about-Mexican-immigrants.html">comments</a> linking Mexican immigrants with rape, crime and drugs. </p>
<p>While Trump <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/11740142/Donald-Trump-taunts-Womens-British-Open-organisers-over-Mexican-immigrants-rant.html">told the LPGA</a> to go elsewhere if they felt so strongly and that he wouldn’t sue them for breach of contract, losing the championship would still have seriously damaged his reputation and caused enormous commercial embarrassment. </p>
<p>The decision on where to hold the men’s Open Championship rests with golf’s governing body outside North America, the <a href="http://www.randa.org">Royal & Ancient (R&A)</a>. It chooses the destination from <a href="http://www.golf.com/photos/new-british-open-rota">a rota</a> of ten courses around the UK, which has included Turnberry since 1977. </p>
<p>It already surprised some golf observers by agreeing to Trump’s plan to <a href="http://ladieseuropeantour.com/trump-turnberry-unveils-changes-to-legendary-ailsa-course-2/">substantially change</a> the Ailsa course at Turnberry – particularly the stretch of eight holes along the craggy coast. While the traditionally conservative body has allowed minor tweaks to all courses on the rota over the years, Trump has realigned fairways; changed greens and relocated them closer to the sea shore; and even introduced completely new holes. </p>
<p>The end result, according to computer-generated images, is an undeniably spectacular course that will place Turnberry truly in a category of its own. The experience will not be cheap, however – anywhere between £195 and £275 for a round depending upon whether you stay at the hotel. In a country where Trump was <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-lust-for-golf-majors-lands-turnberry-but-there-could-be-rough-ahead-26197">already notorious</a> before his presidential campaign for fighting with both the Scottish government and landowners over his other golf investment, the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, this will not help attract local players. </p>
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<h2>Open or closed?</h2>
<p>Granting permission to change Turnberry is also a different matter from allowing the Open to be held there, of course. The R&A avoided answering questions about Turnberry’s place on the men’s rota when it announced in late 2015 that Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland would host the championship in 2019 following a break of nearly 70 years. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/feb/22/open-donald-trump-turnberry-2022">then confirmed</a> that Turnberry would not be considered to host any Open prior to 2022, apparently chipping a decision on holding the event at the course into the long grass. </p>
<p>Though Trump’s <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/sport/golf/donald-trump-saved-turnberry-from-losing-spot-on-open-rota-1-4142215#ixzz4AFHC17ZC">supporters argue</a> Turnberry may have lost its place on the rota without his investment, the R&A will likely be hoping that Trump moderates or backtracks on his more controversial comments, perhaps even that his 2016 presidential bid fails. If he does win in November, one assumes that pronouncements concerning <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/donald-trump-ban-all-muslims-entering-us-san-bernardino-shooting">temporary bans on Muslims</a> entering America, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34789502">deporting</a> 11m illegal immigrants and building a wall along the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-would-seek-to-block-money-transfers-to-force-mexico-to-fund-border-wall/2016/04/05/c0196314-fa7c-11e5-80e4-c381214de1a3_story.html">Mexican border</a> will come to nothing. Even so, a President Trump would be sufficiently unpredictable that the R&A could well feel that a Turnberry Open was an unnecessary risk.</p>
<p>And given current golf politics, Trump might still be damned without winning the presidency. Last month’s <a href="http://www.skysports.com/golf/news/12176/10288051/henni-zuel-backs-ra-decision-to-remove-muirfield-from-open-roster">bold decision</a> by the R&A under new chief executive Martin Slumbers to withdraw the open from Muirfield – arguably the most acclaimed test of golf on the rota – is a clear sign of dramatic change. </p>
<p>Tellingly, <a href="http://www.owgr.com">men’s number three</a> Rory McIlroy was <a href="http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/irish-open/rory-mcilroy-backs-open-ban-on-muirfield-after-latest-menonly-vote-34731540.html">quoted as saying</a> Muirfield needs the Open more than the Open needs Muirfield. The values of proprietary club owners like Trump will probably no longer be off bounds in determining the venue of the game’s leading men’s competition in future. There have <a href="http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/why-pga-tour-should-dump-donald-trump">meanwhile been calls</a> in the US for Trump’s course at Bedminster, New Jersey to lose another of golf’s majors, the 2022 PGA Championship. </p>
<p>So notwithstanding his immense wealth and the unparalleled visual magnificence of his championship-quality course at Turnberry, Donald Trump may not have any lever to pull to get his way with golf’s regulatory body. One suspects he has become the obstacle to his own ambitions in international golf. It will be interesting to see if he encounters similar difficulties in other parts of his empire.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Walton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Trump Turnberry has reopened for business in south-west Scotland. Can you mix populist presidential ambition with a sport desperate to update its image?William Walton, Senior Lecturer, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/527772016-01-05T16:48:23Z2016-01-05T16:48:23ZHow to stop a castle falling into a river<p>Fierce storms and floods have made this a very difficult winter for many parts of the UK, not least the owners of a historic castle in Aberdeenshire, close to the Queen’s residence at Balmoral. Some 20 metres of land behind the 450-year-old <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/35219769">Abergeldie castle</a> has collapsed into the River Dee, leaving its rear wall just feet from the bank. </p>
<p>With the building on the brink of disaster, Baron Abergeldie, John Gordon, and his wife have vacated to stay with a neighbour. They have begun talking to specialists in order to try to save the castle. This is how I would approach the problem, based on what I can see from the reports in the media. </p>
<p>In my employment with consulting engineers over 35 years I have been involved with a number of landslides and erosion problems. Abergeldie’s issue has been partly caused by the fact that the natural <a href="https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10931">granular soils</a> present in this area are more likely to be eroded by flowing water than are clay soils. The risk is that the bank erodes just a little more and undermines the building’s foundations, which are probably about a metre below the ground. This could topple part of the castle into the river. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107285/original/image-20160105-28985-1gvo6lq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pile style.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/sheet+piling+wall/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=315822809">Zhangyang13576997233</a></span>
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<p>Direct support to the building could be provided by <a href="http://constructionstudiesq1.weebly.com/piled-foundation.html">piled foundations</a> sunk deep into the ground and connected into the building walls and foundations. But even if this could be implemented in time, this is still unlikely to be a suitable or adequate solution, since the ground around the piles could still be washed away. </p>
<p>The best, fastest and most pragmatic way of avoiding catastrophe would be to build a containment wall some distance into the river and infilling the space between it and the current bank – essentially reinstating the river bank. To ensure that the load from the castle is adequately supported, you would have to build the wall some distance from the current eroded river bank – I would estimate about five or six metres from looking at the photographs.</p>
<p>For the length of the wall, you would want to provide a robust solution by extending some ten metres upstream and downstream of the castle. By the time you take in the outbuilding and road next to the castle, you might be talking about a length of 50m. The best shape of the outer wall would be a curve and tapering against the bank, encouraging the current to flow smoothly around the wall. If you had sharper edges, it could cause turbulence and lead to more erosion. </p>
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<h2>Material difficulties</h2>
<p>When it comes to materials for building the wall, you have a couple of options. One solution might be to drive a set of interlocking steel-sheet piles into the river bed, but this brings difficulties. These need to penetrate relatively deeply into the ground, approximately twice the height above ground – in this case possibly ten metres below the river bed. The river bed may comprise shallow rock or dense gravel and boulders which prove difficult or impossible to penetrate. The inevitable vibrations might destabilise the ground and threaten the castle. You would also need specialist equipment and contractors of the kind that would take many weeks or even months to procure and mobilise, all of which would drive up the cost. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107286/original/image-20160105-28991-uq19n7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sheet piling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/sheet+piling+wall/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=315822809">Sergeii Tverdokhlibov</a></span>
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<p>The better option is to form a wall using large rocks, known in the profession as <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/riprap">rip-rap</a>. You would then infill the area between the wall and the bank with smaller rocks. </p>
<p>But we are talking about a massive job. Depending upon the extent of the new wall, the job could require thousands of tonnes of stone. Each wagon for transporting these materials can take 20 tonnes. If money was no object and you could obtain all the materials from a local quarry, you could maybe have the work done in a week – plus whatever time it takes to get permission from the council, water authorities and so forth. Under the circumstances, you would hope that could be done in another week. </p>
<p>In addition, you would need to develop and implement a safe method of construction due to the nature of the problem and the risk of a collapse, including the system for making sure it was being followed. The total cost is very difficult to estimate, but we are potentially talking about many hundreds of thousands of pounds. </p>
<p>It’s unclear whether there is enough time to complete this job. It’s an extremely precarious situation and you have to feel very sorry for the owner. One hopes he’s got a dungeon, since that could mean the foundations extended down to river-bed level and therefore be better protected. But that’s probably not the case, so the pressure is on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52777/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donald is a consulting engineer for Donaldson Associates, though the views expressed in this article are entirely his own. He is also a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. </span></em></p>Storm Frank has left one of the Queen’s neighbours in Aberdeenshire on the verge of collapsing into a river. Here’s what you do about it.Donald Cook, Visiting Professor in Civil Engineering, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.