A Synthesis of Construction Vibration and Potential Effects to Historic Buildings Adjacent to Transportation Projects

  Problem

 Historic Preservation professionals and owners and residents in historic buildings often express concern about the potential damage caused by vibration from transportation construction activities.  Expressing their concerns before the beginning of a project they may request costly monitoring; expressed during construction their concerns are usually more passionate and the sought-after remedies more time consuming and costly.

 Objectives and Benefits

 This synthesis will provide transportation agencies with necessary background and guidance for the evaluation of the potential for vibration damage to historic buildings.  It will provide guidance in evaluating whether historic buildings are particularly vulnerable to vibration damage.  Currently, much of the information on vibration and its effects on buildings is isolated in specific project files or state DOT research departments.  By gathering and reviewing this information, the wider community of transportation officials, cultural resource specialists and historic preservation advocates will have a much more thorough basis for discerning legitimate from spurious concerns.  This discussion has been hampered by the inclusiveness of the Criteria of Adverse Effect (farther distant in place or removed in time) as put forth by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (36 CFR 800). 

 Key Words

Historic properties, ancient monuments, vibration, damage, adverse effects.

 Related Work

 US. Bureau of Mines recommended “safe blasting limit”.

 Charles Dowding,

Construction Vibration, Prentice Hall, 1996

“Measure the Crack Instead of Construction Vibrations” (available online

at www.iti.norhwestern.edu/acm/articles/geostrata.html.

Lewis L. Oriard, The Effects of Vibrations and Environmental Forces: A Guide for the Investigation of Structures. International Society of Explosives Engineers, 1999.

Walter Sedovic “Assessing the Effect of Vibration on Historic Buildings, The Association for Preservation Technology Bulletin, Vol. XV I no. 3 & 4, 1984

Some STATE DOT Approaches

Caltrans, http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/env/oise/put/TRANSPORTATION CORRELATED EARTHBORNE VIBRATIONS

Florida, http://www11.myflorida.com/emo/pubs/pdeman/pt2ch30.pdf

Nebraska, http://www.ci.lincoln.ne.us/city/pworks/antelope/pdf/bpdeis.pdf

Michigan, http://www.ndot.state.mi.us/i94rehab/deis_docs/7Mitigation011701.pdf

Indiana and Kentucky, http://www.kyinbridges.com/pmoa.pdf

Iowa DOT, Special Provisions for Vibration and Crack Monitoring,  “Condition Assessment of the Maynard Auto Service Building”, “Recommendations for Vibration Monitoring, James Long Building, US 52 Bridge over Mill Creek Replacement and other project specific studies.  Vibration White Paper, http://dotnet/environment/vibration.asp.

Wisconsin, “Construction Vibration and Historic Buildings”, a WisDOT Research Synthesis Report.

 Urgency/Priority

 This is the second highest priority relative to other ADC50 research needs.

 Cost

 Approximately $50,000 (including Principal Investigator for 6 months, limited clerical assistance, limited travel).

 User Community

 The community of users for this research includes AASHTO, FHWA, local transportation agencies, State Historic Preservation Officers (SHPOs), the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the National Park Service, environmental and engineering consultants, transportation construction contractors.

 Implementation

 Once disseminated in print and by electronic media, the findings will be implemented by transportation agencies, in consultation with their preservation partners, on a project-by-project basis.

 Effectiveness

 The research will be effective if it promotes efficient and effective consultation under 36 CFR 800 and allows transportation projects to move forward more quickly and with less expense while preventing damage to historic properties.