As the R&D-project REMEDY, the partnership aims to reduce the annual cost of damage resulting from ground constructions such as excavations and is a continuation of a previous research project, BegrensSkade 1 completed in 2015.

Assessment of the consequences for the environment is an important part of the design and construction process. This can be very challenging, and risk-reduction measures can be very costly in an urban environment with poor soil conditions and with large excavations close to existing buildings. The ING has reported that it often hears of and reads stories about concerned neighbours to construction sites, experiencing damage and signs of damage to their homes and buildings.

"The main purpose of REMEDY is to make risk assessment and risk management to an integral part of the geotechnical engineering design and the execution of the ground construction work and thereby reduce the risk of material and economic damage. The project will mainly focus on the analysis of the causes for the damage and will propose improved methods," explained Jenny Langford, technical lead at NGI and project manager for the joint project BegrensSkade/REMEDY.

She continued: "Thanks to the active participation and support of all 18 partners we hope now to be able to reduce costs in very large scale and to launch improved methods and guidelines for the entire building and construction sector. As a project manager, I am proud to say that together we will work to make a difference for an entire industry."

The 18 partners in the project, representing all types of stakeholders in the building and construction sector are Norconsult, GeoVita, Multiconsult, Rambøll, Hallingdal Brønnboring, Entreprenørservice, Keller, Kynningsrud, Jetgrunn, Skanska, Veidekke, Finans Norge, HWE, Statens vegvesen (The Norwegian Public Roads Administration), Bane NOR (state-owned company responsible for the Norwegian national railway infrastructure), SINTEF, NTNU and NGI.

NGI leads the REMEDY-project on behalf of The Research Council of Norway. The R&D project consists of six sub-projects, which should be finished in 2022.