【答案解析】MEMO To Philip Green, Managing Director From Ronald Young, Property Manager Date 13' May 2002 Subject GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS I have just read some material on geophysical surveys, and I think we should start taking this matter seriously and include them in all our development plans. Like most companies, we are now spending only 0.2 per cent of the total contract value on ground investigation; yet this is the most unpredictable variable in any building work as there are often nasty and expensive surprises. You may recall the incident thirty years ago, when a housing project was disrupted by the discovery that old chalk mines were collapsing underneath the site. In a more recent example, a factory building had to be demolished for building on unstable rubbish tip. Imagine the impact on our reputation and our profit should our company be in such a situation. Most of our urban developments are on brown field sites and I think it is vital for us to know how previous constructions have affected the land. Traditionally we have resorted to trial pits and bore holes to determine the stability of building land. But now these techniques are outdated as they may stir up some harmful deposits (chemical, heavy metals, etc.) underground. I have the names of several companies which offer this service and I intend to gather more information. Perhaps we could arrange a time to discuss this further.