Tree Survey
Influence
Part of my job description has been to carry out structural surveys on
properties in regard to the close proximity of trees to buildings and
dwellings. This structural appraisal would usually be carried out when the
owner / occupant of a property or dwelling has noticed cracking to the external
envelope of the building, be it to the external leaf of brickwork, the plaster
finish within a room, a crack to a concrete floor slab or movement noticed
around door and window openings.
In most situations the most common scenario for the damage experienced
to the property will be due to either damage caused to the bearing substrata of
the foundations from the close proximity of a mature tree (root zone influence)
through desiccation of the founding clay, or dislocations / fractures of the
drainage system serving the property. Sometimes a combination of both scenarios
where the root zone influence has penetrated the foul and surface water
drainage system, which in turn allows all the water from the drainage system to
wash away the small fines of the founding substrata, over time causing the
foundations of the property to subside.
Misconception of how tree roots grow.
This image is of how most people picture the growth of the roots of a normal tree, expecting the root ball to almost mirror what the observer sees at the top of the trunk as foliage.
In reality the majority of tree roots grow at a shallow depth, only burying deeper when they have to search for more water, or an easier source of water and even then these roots would be thinner.
My minor and major projects, along with the majority of images I have
taken this academic year, appear to be heavily influenced from my cultural
background and up-bringing. I remember as a child living in a property with a
small front garden, directly in front of the garden wall was a tree. Every
property on the road had a similar tree located the same, which over time
undermined the garden wall, causing the wall to crack. Other properties had the
wall removed and a low level fence put in its place due to the wall toppling
over.
My parents have just moved to a brand new bungalow on a new estate,
every property with a small garden at the front has also had a sapling planted
by the builder, whether it be Wimpey or similar. Without consideration to the
species of tree, it may be me carrying out a survey in ten years time.
The industrial estates are quite similar; the contractor clears a large
area of land from all forms of vegetation, exposing the dark clays beneath.
Large amounts of crushed stone and dolomite are brought in and compacted for
the road system / network, followed by the erection of the industrial units on
their raft or strip foundations as the case may be. Once the construction work
has been completed it is then the turn of the landscapers to bring back the
nature which was previously ripped out and destroyed.
A number of sites that I am visiting have just been vacated and left to
fend for themselves and nature is reclaiming its rightful place. Wildlife
daring to habituate the now un-manned buildings and the un-trafficked roads,
bringing with them the seeds of various shrubs and plants. Birds finding a way
in to the buildings, nesting in the open span rafters, weeds and various
vegetation growing through every crack, striving to bring life back to a place
that man has abandoned.
It is amazing that however much concrete, or brickwork and other
man-made material we use, life will find a way through.
Not only do I design and over see the construction of dwellings, offices
and industrial units, I also get the opportunity to survey the same properties
when they are damaged by nature to put together a repair schedule, and through
my photography I am now recording the final chapter in similar buildings, around abandoned machinery and various man-made objects as they are going through the various
stages of reclamation from the surrounding nature.
