Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
(OP)
I am looking at a house that is claiming ground vibration damage from nearby rock blasting. The vibration levels recorded at a nearby seismograph showed that vibration levels were below accepted threshold limits for damage. The homeowner is claiming that his house is built on the same bedrock that is being blasted, resulting in potentially higher vibration levels at his house than at the seismograph.
Does anybody know of a study, paper, or any document that can be referenced that discusses the effect that the soil/rock type beneath a house has on blasting vibration propagation? That is, is there a study that shows that ground vibration propagates more / less efficiently through rock than soil and if so by how much?
Thanks
Does anybody know of a study, paper, or any document that can be referenced that discusses the effect that the soil/rock type beneath a house has on blasting vibration propagation? That is, is there a study that shows that ground vibration propagates more / less efficiently through rock than soil and if so by how much?
Thanks





RE: Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
RE: Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
As cvg pointed out, if there wasn't a precondition survey of the house; the contractor should expect to pay up.
If additional blasting is planned, then a second seismograph could be placed in the house and the readings compared.
Mike Lambert
RE: Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
And if additional blasting is performed and I chose to monitor at the house, I would want the seismograph to be positioned by someone like myself who understands the practicalities of blasting like I do rather than a young inexperienced technician.
And if I was defending my blasters I would probably have them change the blast timing in a way that might be almost invisible to less experienced individual. In other words , new monitoring could not be accurately extrapolated to earlier blasts.
RE: Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
To prove/disprove the homeowner's point, you'd have to place seismographs on the granite near the home.
RE: Ground Vibration - Rock Blasting
Lesson to be learned is placement of seismographs and detailed pre-damage reports...
Dik