LIR is an acronym for Lance Insertion Retardation Meter, meaning the deccelartion during penetration of the lance into the soil.

This method is intended to estimate the shear strenght of marine sediments up to a subsoil depth of 3 - 5 m. Such a survey can help planning the laying of cable, pipelines and offshore constructions for wind farms. Marketing of this method is carried out by our industry partner FIELAX Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH of Bremerhaven.

The LIRmeter is a follow up system of many yaers of development at the university of Bremen (Villinger et al.., Fabian et al.). It is the goal of the instrument, to test the upper 3 - 5 m of sediment in a rapid and easy to handle procedure. From deck of a research vessel, the lance is lowered into the grioung many times in a pogo style method. The negative accelleration is the measure for the stiffness we use for soil classification.

Funding for this project is donated from the state of Bremen under the title "Angewandte Umweltforschung" and from the European Fonds for regional development 2007-2013. EUROPÄISCHE UNION: Investition in Ihre Zukunft – Europäischer Fonds für regionale Entwicklung.