Greater London, UK, among many large cities, was subject to bombing by the German military in both the First World War and Second World War (WW2) and was the target of many air raids during WW2. This was particularly the case during the Blitz, September 1940–May 1941, when over 28 000 high-explosive bombs and parachute mines were dropped on London. Post-war research conducted in 1949 estimated that approximately 12 750 t of bombs, including V1 and V2 rockets, were dropped on London. The night of 16–17 April 1941 was one of the worst bombing raids, when 446 t of bombs were dropped on London and over 58 t did not detonate. Unexploded bombs remain buried underground today, as they were unidentified at the time or abandoned owing to difficulties in recovering them. Uncharted bombs continue to pose a potentially significant hazard for developments around London. This paper considers the probability of discovering unexploded ordnance (UXO), particularly WW2 ordnance, during intrusive groundworks in London. The prevalence of UXO has been assessed using data obtained from governmental organisations to estimate the likelihood of discovery in London.

中文翻译：

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英国伦敦建筑工地上未爆炸弹药的风险

在许多大城市中，英国大伦敦在第一次世界大战和第二次世界大战（WW2）中都遭到德国军方的轰炸，并且是二战期间许多空袭的目标。在1940年9月至1941年5月的闪电战期间，情况尤其如此，当时有超过28 000枚高爆炸弹和降落伞炸弹落在伦敦。1949年进行的战后研究估计，包括V1和V2火箭在内的大约12 750吨炸弹被投落到伦敦。1941年4月16日至17日夜是轰炸最严重的一次，当时在伦敦投掷了446吨炸弹，超过58吨没有爆炸。今天，未爆炸的炸弹仍然埋在地下，因为它们当时不明或由于难以回收而被遗弃。未知的炸弹继续对伦敦周围的发展构成潜在的重大危害。本文考虑了在伦敦侵入性地基工程中发现未爆炸弹药（UXO），特别是第二次世界大战弹药的可能性。已使用从政府组织获得的数据评估了未爆弹药的发生率，以估计在伦敦发现未爆弹药的可能性。