04 January 2006 SEAFORTH SURVEYS FOR UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE (UXO)….
Seaforth Engineering Group was contracted by the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada, on behalf of Department of National Defense (DND), to conduct Hydrographic ‘Underwater’ survey of five potential Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) sites offshore Vancouver Island, British Columbia. These sites have been determined as ‘UXO Probable sites’ by the MARPAC Underwater Unexploded Explosive Ordinance (UXO) Supplementary Historical Survey, Golder Associates Ltd., May 2005. Seaforth Engineering Group conducted the marine survey from January 3 to January 20, 2006. The high-resolution multi-sensor marine survey comprised of hydrographic, magnetometer and sidescan sonar investigation of potential UXO sites. Water and sediment samples were taken as determined in program design.
Proposed operations were divided into four distinct survey areas. These areas were investigated to determine the presence of UXO with; Sidescan Sonar, Magnetometer, Multibeam (swath bathymetry system) and ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) Underwater Video. Ship based preliminary data processing was undertaken, allowing for data quality assessment and analysis as well as ensuring complete survey coverage. Data processing and interpretation commenced upon the initiation of data collection operations and continued until demobilization. Multibeam and sidescan data were collected using a RESON 8101 and the Klein 3000 respectively. All soundings were processed using CARIS HIPS/SIPS. As a requirement of the Contract, an ARC-GIS project was developed. Surveyed areas were represented in the GIS Project as polygon features. As well, potential and verified UXO targets, in the surveyed areas were identified and represented in the GIS project as point features.
Survey Area	Video Still of Ordinance Target ArcInfo Data Integration
Seaforth Engineering has its head office, warehouse and laboratory facilities in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, offering consulting engineering services in the development and implementation of innovative marine engineering services and renewable energy technology. Seaforth provides solutions for its clients in project management, ocean mapping, and renewable energy systems; its pool of professionals includes engineers, geophysicists, geologists, hydrographers, geographic information systems (GIS) and computer aided design (CAD) technicians.
For more information contact:  David Lombardi  Seaforth Engineering Group (902) 468-3579  dlombardi@seafortheng.ca
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