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.