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Anyone searching the Internet for information on construction vibration effects and damage will find numerous sites of vibration monitoring firms and consultants. Many of these say, in essence, that "construction can't cause damage". Unfortunately, these views may not be entirely unbiased and free of conflict-of-interest, since such vibration monitoring firms and consultants do virtually all their work for construction contractors. The goal of this chapter of the CVDG is to place construction vibration damage, and representations about it, in a more complete scientific context. I'll try to give you some sense of whether these assertions can be taken literally or cum magno grano salis (with a very large grain of salt).

Many of the topics covered here are discussed with much greater detail in later chapters of the CVDG, but this one provides an introduction to many of the issues which surround the question of construction vibration damage possibility and probability. Other forms of misconceptions or misinformation, which are often offered when damage claims are made, are discussed in the CVDG Pro's Misconceptions chapter.

People and Vibration

The vibration scientific literature recognizes repeatedly that people are more sensitive to vibration perception than structures are to vibration damage. Another way of saying this is that felt vibration ("shaking") in a home may not cause damage to it. Scientific studies of human vibration perception show that the longer a vibration of a given peak particle velocity (PPV) lasts, the more disturbing people will find it.[13] For more on vibration perception and damage, see Vibration and Damage in the CVDG.

Damage Causes

Although structural damage associated with construction can, and does, occur, apparent construction vibration damage is more often observed as "cosmetic" cracking in drywall or plaster and exterior surfaces such as stucco. This may, or may not, be an indicator of underlying structural damage. Since such cosmetic damage can also be caused, at least in principle, by settling, thermal cycling (i.e. temperature changes) and normal aging, a few hairline cracks (e.g. under 10) found in a house during or after construction in the neighborhood does not necessarily indicate a construction vibration cause.

Once people find cracking, they may begin to look more carefully for hairline cracking and other forms of damage that they might otherwise have failed to notice. Thus, simply becoming more aware of such cracks or other damage during construction is not necessarily proof that construction is the source of the damage, per se (see Damage Causation in the CVDG Pro). Indeed, all these arguments are often offered as damage rationalizations (see Counterarguments in the CVDG Pro) by contractors and their paid "experts".

That said, the experience of watching cracks form as a construction crew used a large excavator bucket to break asphalt pavement by pounding on it (see video frame capture at right) in front of my home convinced me that construction vibration damage is real.[9],[16] I found damage of similar sorts to that in my home in every home on my street which I examined. Other residents all along the street reported similar use of pounding with an excavator to demolish pavement[17] and extensive damage they attributed to it.[18] These facts, and many others, strengthened my view that the construction was responsible for all that damage. Later, well over 1600 reports of apparent construction-linked damage from all over the world demonstrated for me that construction damage is more common than some might think - or have you believe.

The Construction Position

Like many others worldwide, I was told by the construction firm management, its employees, its attorneys, its "experts", the employees of the municipality sponsoring the work and the project insurer that "construction can't cause damage". Several of those who made statements like these refused outright multiple invitations to view either the damage or video of the damage being done, indicating a position entirely based on bias. None of these people ever offered any scientific evidence whatsoever supporting their claim. Nor did any of those advocating that view have any significant scientific background, which might have helped, and qualified, them to champion such a clear-cut, and scientifically questionable, position. They also asserted that the vibrations were "within standards" or "within limits", but these statements proved to be literally false, when even partial vibration monitoring data became available.

Worse yet, such views among people who are involved in, or associated with, the construction field are so widespread and strong that it could reasonably be asked if these and similar unsupported opinions might be contributory to the kinds of reckless behavior that I saw and videotaped on multiple occasions. This behavior directly violated the operator's manual instructions in multiple places for the types of heavy equipment used.[14] It also disregarded the internal policies of the contractor, per sworn testimony of one of the contractor's executives. In addition, the very use itself of some of the types of equipment employed in that job gave no heed to specific Federal Transportation Administration advice against such use in "sensitive areas".[3],[4] That reckless behavior occurred both before and after the immediate notification to the contractor of the damage and its cause.

Construction heavy equipment is used regularly to demolish homes intentionally. That fact alone confirms that such equipment has the power to cause damage to homes unintentionally, especially if used inappropriately. Because I'm a scientist by training and inclination, I decided to look into "construction can't cause damage" assertions on a broader scale than my own experience, in the hope of finding some valid scientific basis for them, or, at least, understanding their source.

The Vibration Damage Scientific Literature

Much of the scientific and technical literature on vibration damage, and many of the vibration standards, are based on studies of damage due to vibrations from surface mine and quarry blasting. One commonly cited vibration standard in the U.S., the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) standard is founded largely on the recommendations of the highly respected U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8507 (USBM RI 8507) study of these kinds of blasting-caused ground vibrations. While the OSM standard doesn't conform to all the recommendations of USBM RI 8507 (see Vibration Standards for a discussion of this point), it is widely cited not only in mining, but construction settings, perhaps because it sets very high limits on allowable ground vibration velocities. Thus, claims in the literature, in state and municipality regulations, and on the Internet about the "impossibility" of construction damage are often largely or entirely based on the OSM or USBM blasting standards, not construction vibration standards.

Neither the OSM standard nor the underlying USBM RI 8507 study make any assertions to the effect that damage is impossible from blasting vibration, nor do they suggest that blasting vibration limits are suitable for use in construction settings not involving blasting (see below). Many of those other studies which cite "construction vibration" mostly describe blasting in construction settings, not heavy equipment use and misuse. As discussed in USBM RI 8507, there has been a steady downward trend in blasting vibration intensities adjudged as "non-damaging" and "allowable", as more research has been done.[1]  You can find links to download free copies of these and other standards and studies on our More Information page.

There is relatively little direct, let alone thorough, study of the vibration effects of heavy equipment work and related activities unique to construction and different in vibration characteristics from blasting (see below). I have not been able to find a single statement anywhere in the scientific literature of vibration effects on structures whose thrust is that "construction can't cause damage". However, there are certainly indications that doing construction properly, with attention to minimizing the vibrations caused, can dramatically reduce the probability of damage.

Mine Blasting vs. Construction Vibration

Surface mine blasting vibrations occur infrequently, perhaps as much as once a day at the most active mines. They produce vibrations which last, at most, only a few seconds. Construction vibration, on the other hand, can persist for minutes, hours, days or even months in some instances. paving vibrations (largely from vibratory compactors) from a real-life road reconstruction projectTo give some sense of these differences in a real-life situation, I have expanded a small part of the construction vibration monitoring record at one location in the diagram at right, so that one can see the detailed time history of the vibrations. These paving vibrations (largely from vibratory compactors), from a real-life road reconstruction project in a suburban neighborhood, remain over Federal Transit Administration road construction standards (0.2 in/sec for undamaged, timber-framed homes) for about a minute at a time in this example.

There are four such episodes in just the 6 minute period shown in the diagram, of more than an hour of such vibrations in this one pass, of nine such compaction episodes scattered over several days of paving operations, in addition to still more similar periods involving compaction of the underlying soil.[8] Some individual vibrations recorded on the project lasted as long, were twice the intensity shown here and were repeated some 20 times in front of one home on one day.

This difference in duration and number of occurrences between mine blasting and construction vibrations is critical, since long-lasting vibrations can enhance both fatigue and resonance effects in the structure, which are of far less importance in short-lived, infrequently-repeated blasting vibrations. Indeed, USBM RI 8507 indicates this limitation of blasting studies explicitly:

"Safe vibration levels for blasting are given in Table 13... Implicit in these values are assumptions that the structures are sited on a firm foundation, do not exceed 2 stories, and have the dimensions of typical residences, and that the vibration wavetrains are not longer than a few seconds."[2] (emphasis added)
 
"Consequently, it is necessary to pool all the available data while avoiding the use of data that are clearly not similar to actual blasting. Examples of the latter are teleseismic blast vibrations and earthquakes, whose low-frequency content and long durations make them more likely to produce damage to structures."[20](emphasis added)

There are other significant differences between blasting and construction vibrations which also serve to make construction even more concerning from a vibration standpoint than blasting. These are discussed later in the CVDG.

Thus, use of blasting standards in construction settings, especially in the absence of supporting data justifying it in a specific set of circumstances, is scientifically and technically questionable at the very best. Use of the OSM blasting vibration standard, on which so many of the "damage can't happen" assertions are based, is clearly unsupportable in construction vibration damage evaluations.[15] Its basis is the recommendations of USBM RI 8507, which explicitly specifies applicability only in blasting settings with vibrations of short duration. There are other, far more stringent, standards for construction vibration, which recognize this fundamental difference, perhaps most notably in the U.S. the one in the Federal Transit Administration's Noise and Vibration Manual (at right). The fact that construction vibration standards set far lower limits for "allowable" vibrations than those imposed for blasting settings is, by itself, strongly indicative that "construction can't cause damage" contentions are unsupportable, scientifically and, perhaps, legally.

Heavy Equipment Concerns

Although blasting vibration standards are inappropriately employed for evaluating construction vibrations, even those lenient standards can be violated by some construction operations. In particular, hammer-type pile drivers are known to produce vibrations in excess of the OSM blasting standard.[3] Widely used vibratory compactors, like the one at left, often exceed some or all of the FTA construction standards and, in specific documented examples, the USBM RI 8507 blasting recommendations. Indeed, the FTA specifically advises against their use, "Avoid vibratory rollers and packers near sensitive areas."[4] Hydraulic rock breakers, sometimes called "hoe rams", can also exceed construction vibration standards. Thus, any use of these kinds of equipment in populated areas should be viewed with unease for the vibration they produce.

Another concern, with limited investigation in the vibration damage literature, is the vibration caused by driving tracked heavy equipment for longer than 10 seconds or so in populated areas. Vibrations produced by driving tracked equipment have a broad span of frequencies (see Vibration 101 and Vibration Frequencies for an explanation) in the sub-40 Hz range of most concern for damage effects. They produce accelerations, another measure of vibration intensity, higher than those produced by vibratory compactors and commonly last for a minute or more.[6] This is more than long enough for the self-reinforcing effects of resonance to manifest themselves in home damage. For more on this topic, see the CVDG Pro page, Vibration Signatures and the CVDG page, Vibration Potential.

Construction Vibration Damage Prevalence

A little over half of those downloading the extended PDF e-book version of the CVDG from Vibrationdamage.com cite "Damage to home" or "Damage to building" as the reason for their interest in it. Their sheer numbers (over 1500 damage examples to date) and worldwide distribution[10] (see map graphic below) suggest that construction vibration damage is a problem deserving of acknowledgement, concern, and better, more directly relevant, scientific study.[11] There is ample reason to suspect that these greatly under-represent the amount of construction vibration damage done. More about vibration damage prevalence and causes can be found on our page, Damage Prevalence, in the CVDG Pro version. The CVDG Pro page, Damage Occurrence, has statistical information about the breakdown of CVDG downloads by reason for download, technical background of damage reporters, building type, construction project type, damage-causing operations, and more.

Worldwide construction vibration damage prevalence - from Vibrationdamage.com
Geographical Distribution of CVDG PDF Downloads

Science and Opinion

Not every construction job causes vibration damage, even if vibration is felt and makes nearby residents uncomfortable and concerned. Not all damage found in a home or building is necessarily a result of construction vibration, even if an owner becomes aware of it during, or shortly after, nearby construction work. Not all construction operations are equally likely to cause damage; not all contractors perform those operations in ways equally likely to result in damage.

However, some construction jobs do result in damage, in most cases, predictably so. Damage usually occurs because the contractor has violated equipment use instructions, used the wrong equipment in the wrong areas, used the right equipment, without taking vibration mitigation steps, too close to homes and other structures, didn't understand or didn't care about applying relevant vibration standards, was given poor quality vibration data, poor advice about it,[19] or some combination thereof.

Careful scientific study of the damage and its patterns, in and around a structure, with thoughtful correlations to well-done vibration monitoring results and ongoing construction procedures and equipment, can often allow a scientific determination about which kinds of damage are likely caused by construction vibration or which, if present, are most fairly assigned to other causes.  Scientifically valid conclusions must be based on reliable and full data, thoughtfully, properly and fully interpreted. Unspecified "experience" alone, highly selective choices of which data to credit and which to ignore, selective "losses" of critical vibration monitoring data, and pre-conceived or pre-ordained opinions,[19] which, in some documented cases, ignore extensive contradicting data entirely, do not meet scientific or legal standards for reliability.[21] The CVDG Pro chapter, Damage Assessment, details how damage cause can be determined scientifically and to what degree of confidence.

While people are entitled to their personal opinions, unsupported or questionably supported opinions cannot, and should not, be taken or presented as scientific or practical fact. Even representations of large amounts of "experience" with construction vibration damage "evaluation" do not, by themselves, prove that "construction can't cause damage" in a given set of circumstances. If anything, such all-encompassing, poorly supported, unscientific, pre-conceived notions establish more about the mindset of the speaker than about construction vibration damage potential or causation.

Get the Real Facts

When you read on the web or hear statements from "experts" about vibration damage, give most weight to those sites, documents and statements which provide scientific references in support of their conclusions, whereby you can examine the literature to verify them. Ask for title, authors and page numbers for supporting scientific papers, when they are not provided. Give little weight to unsupported assertions, written or verbal, even if based on claimed "experience".

These are the standards by which scientists judge reliability of statements about known science. In part, they are also those adopted for evaluating reliability of statements by "experts" in U.S. courts (the "Daubert" standard).[21] Such verifiable, fact-based criteria are entirely appropriate for statements about vibration damage. The over 70 scientific papers referenced in the over 500 footnotes of the CVDG are a good start in understanding and evaluating the many unsupported claims you will hear and read as you investigate vibration damage. The CVDG chapter, Damage Inspections, has further discussion of the kinds of claims that you might hear in the context of a vibration damage report and some suggestions as to how you might find out about their relative reliability.

Cum Magno Grano Salis

In the end, there is little or no scientific support for statements to the effect that "construction can't cause damage" to homes and other structures. Indeed, the much lower maximum allowable velocities set in construction vibration standards vs. those set for blasting indicate that construction using heavy equipment is more prone to cause damage than blasting, at any given vibration peak particle velocity  (intensity), not less. In the absence of reliable, complete and well-documented scientific data, along with properly-applied vibration standards supporting such statements in the specific example at hand, "construction can't cause damage" statements, and ones like them, should be treated as unscientific, inherently questionable and, in many documented examples, literally false.[22]

The decision on whether to pursue a construction vibration damage claim should be based on a careful analysis of the facts which you can prove, not on the unscientific, uncritical, unsupported assertions of those who may not understand (or want to understand) the science of vibration damage, as applied in your situation, or those who may have a conflict-of-interest in rendering an unbiased opinion about construction vibration damage.

Vibration 101CVDG Pre-Construction

[1] Structure Response and Damage Produced by Ground Vibration From Surface Mine Blasting, D. E. Siskind, M. S. Stagg, J. W. Kopp, and C. H. Dowding, United States Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8507 (USBM RI 8507), 1980, p. 3
[2] Ibid.
, p. 58
[3]
Transit Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment, Carl E. Hanson, David A. Towers, and Lance D. Meister, FTA-VA-90-1003-06, May 2006 (Federal Transit Administration's Noise and Vibration Manual), pp. 12-12 - 12-13
[4] Ibid., p. 12-14

[5] "Finally, neighbors around the mining operations and other blasting, as shown in figure 1, require protection of their property and health so that they do not bear an unreasonable personal cost." Structure Response and Damage Produced by Ground Vibration From Surface Mine Blasting, D. E. Siskind, M. S. Stagg, J. W. Kopp, and C. H. Dowding, United States Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8507 (USBM RI 8507), 1980
, p. 4
[6] GROUND VIBRATIONS CAUSED BY ROAD CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS, D J Martin, Department of the Environment, Department of Transport TRRL Supplementary Report 328: Crowthorne, 1977

[7] "Harmful vibration effects of construction activities occur frequently. This is a field of growing concern." M. R. Svinkin, Minimizing Construction Vibration Effects
, Practice Periodical On Structural Design and Construction, Vol. 9, No.2, May 1, 2004, ASCE, p. 108
[8] The seismograph was located approximately 5 feet from the closest approach in this first layer, first lane paving pass over compacted soil. Specific distances between seismographs and construction activities in the CVDG are taken from my video of them, as the vibration technician never recorded the locations of the seismographs, construction work location and type of work with anything like enough specificity or accuracy to identify them. Typically, they included only a street address and, often, an inaccurate indication of the type of construction activity involved. The count of nine such episodes of actual paving does not include a similar number of passes of vibratory compactors to compact the underlying soil before paving start.

[9] The danger of even properly-done pavement breaking operations was known and readily available online at the time this damage from improper procedures was done in 2009: "
However, if vibration concerns involve pavement breaking, extensive pile driving, or trains, 7.5 m (25 ft) or less from normal residences, buildings, or unreinforced structures, damage is a real possibility." (Transportation- and construction-induced vibration guidance manual. June 2004. California Department of Transportation, p. 17).
[10] This map shows CVDG free edition downloads by state in the U.S., Canada and Australia and by country for all other locations worldwide. Warmer pin colors (reds, yellows) represent more downloads.

[11] "There is very little research pertaining to the subject of common construction vibration such as that associated with moving equipment and even pile driving.", Construction Practices to Address Construction Vibration and Potential Effects on Historic Buildings Adjacent to Transportation Projects report (National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Project 25-25 (Task 72)), Literature Review, p. 1, September 2012

[12] Construction Practices to Address Construction Vibration and Potential Effects on Historic Buildings Adjacent to Transportation Projects report (National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Project 25-25 (Task 72)), p. 12, September 2012

[13]
For example, Structure Response and Damage Produced by Ground Vibration From Surface Mine Blasting, D. E. Siskind, M. S. Stagg, J. W. Kopp, and C. H. Dowding, United States Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8507 (USBM RI 8507), 1980, p. 62, et seq.
[14]
Operation and Maintenance Manual, 320 B, 320 B L, and 320 B N Excavators, Caterpillar, Inc., SEBU 6075-07, p. 31, p. 101, p. 106, among others. Obtainable in PDF format by purchase from Caterpillar
[15] I am, by no means, the only scientist to have come to this conclusion, e.g.: "Of importance, the authors note the vibration limits derived from research conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines on the effects of blasting on residential structures are the least appropriate standards for protection of historic structures." Construction Practices to Address Construction Vibration and Potential Effects on Historic Buildings Adjacent to Transportation Projects report (National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Project 25-25 (Task 72)), p. 27, September 2012

[16] An excavator very similar to the one shown on this page has been used to simulate earthquakes by pounding on pavement: "Soon after, a PC750LC excavator shocked attendees by pounding its massive claw into the pavement and creating a "did you feel that?" earthquake moment.", The Santa Clara Weekly, March 2011, Issue 10, Out With the Old: In With the New, https://www.santaclaraweekly.com/2011/Issue-10/quakes_stadium.html

[17] Since the publication of both versions of the CVDG, many others around the world have reported to me similar use of an excavator pounding on pavement for demolition, in spite of the fact that such use violates instructions in the operator's manuals for many such excavators and contravenes many contractors' policies against such use. Pounding of this sort often produces damage effects which imply vibration velocities far in excess of any worldwide ground vibration standard (see Recognizing Damage for more on this topic). To date, all of those who have reported pounding on pavement to us have also reported damage which they attribute to it.

[18] In what is, perhaps, the ultimate irony, the replacement water main, whose installation was the primary justification for performing the street work mentioned several times in the CVDG, failed on June 30, 2015, after only a little over five years in place. This occurred at the same intersection, shown in several photos in the CVDG, where pounding was done to remove pavement. The local municipality had to pay for the repair and repaving, after several of its employees had repeatedly testified under oath to the "reliability" of the work of the construction company involved in the original replacement of the main. Another failure of the same general type occurred at the same intersection on April 3, 2017, also repaired at the cost of the municipality's taxpayers. There had been no failures of the water main at that site prior to its replacement.

[19] In one telling example of pre-ordained opinion, the fundamental conclusion language of the vibration monitoring firm for a road reconstruction job, "It is [vibration monitoring firm name]'s opinion that the ground vibration levels recorded during this period are not of sufficient magnitude to damage building materials[.]", was built into the template used for writing all vibration monitoring reports for that project and all others in which that firm took measurements of vibration, per sworn testimony of the vibration technician. That template language appeared verbatim in all five known vibration monitoring reports for the project involved. In the partial vibration data produced under subpoena, I found that the project had violated the FTA Class III construction vibration standards for frame homes at least 280 times and violated the USBM RI 8507 blasting vibration recommendations (cited in the reports) at least 10 times. Thus, in this example, there was a near-total disconnect between the data obtained by the vibration technician and the conclusions offered in his reports. The vibration monitoring firm referred to here left the business of vibration monitoring for contractors shortly after the trial in that case.

[20] Structure Response and Damage Produced by Ground Vibration From Surface Mine Blasting, D. E. Siskind, M. S. Stagg, J. W. Kopp, and C. H. Dowding, United States Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 8507 (USBM RI 8507), 1980, p. 49

[21] This standard is also one accepted by the courts in the U.S., when people testify as "experts". Speaking from the standpoint of a scientist and experienced expert witness, not an attorney, the term "expert" has a specific meaning in legal settings. An "expert" must be accepted as such by the court, based on qualifications (e.g. publications, patents, books authored by the expert, experience), prior to his main testimony. That testimony must meet certain reliability tests (general acceptance by the majority of other scientists in the relevant area of expertise, accepted methodology for scientific work, known rate of error, etc.) specified in the landmark Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) decision of the U. S. Supreme Court, as clarified and extended by two subsequent decisions, General Electric Co. v. Joiner (1997) and Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael (1999). The Daubert decision superseded the earlier Frye v. United States (1923) finding, although some states still use the Frye standard at the state district court level. The Daubert standard may be particularly relevant in vibration damage cases, because there are few real experts. Vibration monitoring technicians, who are often offered as experts at trial, rarely have a detailed understanding of the science of vibration damage to homes. In too many documented cases, their work and opinions would likely not stand up to a Daubert challenge.

[22] The Travelers Insurance Co. offers an online app for its contractor policy holders called ZoneCheck, which allows contractors to calculate what are claimed to be likely vibration interaction distances for various types of construction. Its accuracy and calculation methods are unknown, as is their suitability for the urban environments explicitly illustrated in a video describing it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3B5e8bMvQQ. The first line of the narration is, "You already know all about how ground vibration can cause damage to surrounding structures..."
The video is also on the Traveler's site at https://www.travelers.com/business-insurance/construction/vibration-tool

This is a chapter from the Construction Vibration Damage Guide for Homeowners (CVDG), a 100+ page free book with over 300 color photos, diagrams and other illustrations. It is available at https://vibrationdamage.com as a series of web pages or in full, web navigation and ad-free, as a downloadable PDF e-book, with additional content not available on the web. The free version of the CVDG is licensed to homeowners and others for personal, at-home use only. A Professional Edition (CVDG Pro), licensed for business use and with over three times as much content, can be ordered from our Order the CVDG Pro page, usually with same-day delivery. You can comment about this page or ask questions of the author, Dr. John M. Zeigler, by using our Visitor Comment form. If you would like to discuss vibration damage issues and view additional content not found in the CVDG, Join us on Facebook. Please Like us while you're there.

 

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