How to pile and drill safely near our assets.

To prevent any damage, levels of Peak Particle Velocity must be below 1.5mm per second. 

The equipment should be constantly monitored. Monitoring equipment must be level (within 10 degrees) and placed on or at the structure nearest to the vibration source.

If you use a vibrographs sensor, it must be fixed to the structure being monitored by bolting, using epoxy resin, or sandbagging.

Sandbags must be loosely filled and placed so that its sides touch the ground around the geophone pack. You must ensure the geophone pack remains level. 

Never site the equipment on a paving slab, as this may independently move. This can cause inaccurate readings, higher than the strucure is actually subjected to. 

Make sure the monitoring equipment it is not knocked or disturbed by objects, people or animals. This can also lead to false readings.

Vibration levels that cause damage depend on the peak particle velocity and the frequency it occurs. Damage to an asset is likely where PPV is high when its frequency is low.

Work should immediately stop if PPV exceeds 1.5mm/s and you should notify us straight away.

All team members on site should be aware of these limits.

We measure ground vibrations using Peak Particle Velocity in millimetres per second.

This measures the movement of molecular particles in the ground. It does not measure surface movement.

Piling, driving, dynamic compaction, blasting and heavy machinery can all cause ground vibrations.

These vibrations can have an impact on the surrounding area.

They can affect buildings, cause structural damage and disturb local residents.

Ground vibrations can cause structural damage to buildings once they go above 15 mm/s.

We set vibration limits to avoid damage to infrastructure, the environment and disturbance to local people.