Construction / Vibration
Continuous vibration monitoring for piling next to a heritage building
A construction project adjacent to a sensitive older building required continuous vibration monitoring with real-time alerts, letting works proceed without damage or dispute.
The problem
Piling risked damaging the neighbouring building, and its owner wanted independent numbers as evidence.
Our approach
- 1Installed continuous vibration monitors (geophones) at the base of the sensitive structure
- 2Set alert and stop-work trigger levels using PPV criteria from international standards
- 3Real-time alerts to site supervision when approaching limits
- 4Weekly summary reports as shared evidence for all parties
Standards applied
Key numbers
0.8 mm/s
Peak PPV recorded
5 months, continuous
Monitoring duration
21 alert triggers, 0 exceedances
Exceedance events
Outcome
The project alarm was set at 1.5 mm/s — half the 3 mm/s DIN 4150-3 limit for sensitive and heritage structures — so the contractor was warned long before anything approached the standard. It triggered 21 times over five months of continuous monitoring, each time stopping the rig for review. The highest peak particle velocity ever recorded was 0.8 mm/s: no standard limit was exceeded, no damage occurred, and no claim was made.