Sustainable Development Field Trip

On Friday we left on our one and only field trip for this term for my program (Engineering for Sustainable Development). The theme of the trip was roads and their effects on landscapes. By 930am we were at Beaufort Court, RES (Renewable Enegry Systems) to take a tour of the site. The site is the headquaters for RES and was refurbished from the old Ovaltine Egg Farm. The site has many on-site renewable energy sources to help make the building a zero emisions building. I was surprised at how attractive the building was, the renewable technologies did not detract from the overall appearance of the site.

The first thing you notice when you pull up to the site is the giant wind turbine. However, it is very quiet and provides all of the building's electoral power.

The group listening intently to our tour guide

The side of the RES building. The trees were planted to prevent the building from overheating in the summer. The green panels on the upper part of the windows prevent glare because sunlight is used during the day for lighting and heating.

The biomass crop: used for heating

The solar panel array: used for heating

The underground heat store: used for heating in the winter

A view of the front of the building: the well leads to an underground aqueduct which is used as ground water cooling in the summer

By 2pm we were at Stonehenge. I must say - it is smaller in person, but it is still impressive if you consider those stones were placed there around 4,000 years ago with some of the stones coming from as far as 240 miles away. Unfortunately, the site is surrounded by busy roads on both sides which detracts from people's enjoyment of the site and which is why we were studying it. Over the last decade, a plan has been in the works to dig a tunnel under the site and return the surface to its original beauty. However, in 2006 the plans were permanently shelved due to cost. Our job for the day was to work in groups to come up with a better design for Stonehenge. My group decided to keep the road in the location it is, but to do a combination of cut-and-cover, which is a shallow tunnel, and a sunken road once the cars were well past the site. Unfortunately, my group didn't win. Another group who built a whole new road entirely to the south won. Another exciting part of our visit was meeting 2 real Druids! King Arthur Pendragon explained to us the history of the site and his connection with it - it was very interesting! We also signed a petition for him asking the government to get rid of the roads surrounding the site.

A view of Stonehenge from inside the bus on the road: can you believe how close the road is?

How close the other road is to the site: Stonehenge is on the left

There was a caravan of Wickens visiting the site: these are some of their bumper stickers!

On Saturday, we visited two more sites. The first one, Twyford Down, was an example of a poor road design and the second one, Hindhead, was a terrific example of a sustainable road. It was a long weekend, but I enjoyed visiting the sites and getting to know my classmates a little better! The following are some photos of Twyford Down.

Where a major highway used to be has now been returned to its natural state

We walked up a beautiful path to get to the top of St. Catherine's Hill: an Iron Age fort

This ditch is a crucial part of the Iron Age fort. From high ground you could defend your territory.

The top of St. Catherine's Hill

The top of St. Catherine's from a distance


Overlooking the city of Winchester