Transfer of vibration from excavator through sand

GClair · Jul 25, 2017

Hi guys,
I have a situation where an owner is claiming damages to their property as a consequence of civil works (involving a small excavator) on a neighbouring property.
The excavator was working on sand so I would have thought that this would have been unlikely.
Does anyone have any suggestions or reference material they could point me too.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Gavin

dik · Jul 25, 2017

Generally go through, prior to the work, and do an existing damage assessment... after the fact, it's a matter of checking if the damage is pristine... look for dirt in cracks, even found spider webs..., and that sort of stuff... it's a lot easier before hand to document cracks, etc.

Dik

oldestguy · Jul 25, 2017

If this was saturated sand, it is possible for damage in the immediate vicinity but mainly with migration out from under footings. I've seen that happen. With non saturated sand, working nearby (within 10 feet) it also has happened.

dik · Jul 25, 2017

Any chance the excavator drove too close to the existing and maybe surcharged whatever moved?

EireChch · Jul 26, 2017

Whats the geometry of the problem. Distance from neighboring property, size of excavation etc.

DiK - if its a small job, its not likely that a pre construction survey would be done (IMHO). Bar a visual from what you can see from your side of the fence. A post construction inspection by an experienced surveyor may be able to determine if damage was pre existing.

dik · Jul 26, 2017

Yup...

Dik

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Transfer of vibration from excavator through sand

GClair

Structural

dik

Structural

oldestguy

Geotechnical

dik

Structural

EireChch

Geotechnical

dik

Structural

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