Excavations for new facilities at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital uncovered a number of “sand pockets” at the site.A spokesman for Paget Health Services, the company in charge of construction, said that naturally occurring voids and sand seams are a characteristic of Bermuda stone, adding: “However, the full extent of such features is not necessarily predictable from a desk study nor physical ground investigations.”The company explored the ground with boreholes before digging commenced. Underground deposits of loose sand were found at the eastern side of the site.The material was removed, often by hand, and the excavations filled in with concrete.The spokesman added: “Bermuda’s own Departments of Planning, Environmental Protection and Conservation Services have all been kept abreast of issues, as required by the Island’s Regulatory process.”