Attenuation of Pipe Ramming-Induced Ground Vibrations
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 7, Issue 1
Abstract
Pipe ramming installations generally induce high levels of ground vibrations that may affect the structural integrity of nearby buildings and utilities. This paper investigates the ground vibrations associated with pipe ramming installations and develops reliable models for estimating the ground vibration levels in an effort to avoid the undesirable effects of the vibrations. The study presents field observations of ground vibrations in which an open-ended steel casing 1,070 mm in diameter and 37 m long was driven into granular soils using two pneumatic hammers of varying energy. The ground vibrations observed during the installation are presented as a function of magnitude of peak particle velocity, frequency content, and direction of propagation. Observations indicate that a wide range of amplitudes and frequencies is possible, ranging from 1 to and 20 to 100 Hz, respectively, for the case of forward and laterally propagating vibrations. The forward-propagating vibrations were observed to exceed the safe limit vibration criteria for a proposed pipe alignment for close source-to-sensor distances, indicating a potential for damage caused by pipe ramming-induced vibrations. The attenuation characteristics of the pipe ramming-induced vibrations were assessed by adopting and calibrating the existing scaled-distance empirical model and compared to those for a number of common construction operations.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through Research Contract SPR-710. This study was carried out with significant help obtained from the Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter of the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA). The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and support provided by Gonzales Boring and Tunneling, J.W. Fowler Construction, Armadillo Underground, Emery & Sons, Inc., Wyo-Ben, Inc., RDO Equipment, Moore Excavation, and Peterson Machinery.
References
Atalah, A., Sterling, R. S., Hadala, P., and Akl, F. (1998). “The effect of pipe bursting on nearby utilities, pavement and structures.”, Louisiana Tech Univ., Ruston, LA.
Attewell, P. B., and Farmer, I. W. (1973). “Attenuation of ground vibrations from pile driving.” Ground Eng., 3(7), 26–29.
Attewell, P. B., Selby, A. R., and O’Donnell, L. (1992). “Estimation of ground vibration from driven piling based on statistical analyses of recorded data.” Geotech. Geol. Eng., 10(1), 41–59.
Blair, D. P. (2004). “The frequency content of ground vibration.” Fragblast Int. J. Blasting Fragmentation, 8(3), 151–176.
Dowding, C. H. (2000). Construction vibrations, 2nd Ed., Prentice Hall Engineering/Science/Mathematic, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 610.
Goble, G. G., Rausche, F., and Likins, G. (1980). “The analysis of pile driving: A state-of-the-art.” Proc., Int. Seminar on the Application of Stress-Wave Theory on Piles, Balkema, Stockholm, Sweden, 131–161.
Hardin, B. O. (1965). “ The nature of damping in sands.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 91(SM1), 63–97.
Kramer, S. L. (1996). Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 653.
Massarsch, K. R., and Fellenius, B. H. (2008). “Ground vibrations by impact pile driving.” Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, 6th Int. Conf., Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO.
Meskele, T., and Stuedlein, A. W. (2013). “Hammer-pipe energy transfer efficiency for pipe ramming.” Proc., No-Dig, North American Society for Trenchless Technology, Liverpool, NY, 10.
Meskele, T., and Stuedlein, A. W. (2015a). “Drivability analyses for pipe ramming installations.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 141(3), 04014107.
Meskele, T., and Stuedlein, A. W. (2015b). “Static soil resistance to pipe ramming in granular soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 141(3), 04014108.
NAVFAC. (1986). “Foundations and earth structures.” Design manual DM 7-02, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Alexandria, VA.
Rausche, F., Likins, G. E., Liang, L., and Hussein, M. H. (2010). “Static and dynamic models for CAPWAP signal matching.” Proc., Art of Foundation Engineering Practice, ASCE, Reston, VA, 534–553.
Rausche, F., Moses, F., and Goble, G. (1972). “Soil resistance predictions from pile dynamics.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 98, 917–937.
Seed, H. B., Wong, R. T., Idriss, I. M., and Tokimatsu, K. (1986). “Moduli and damping factors for dynamic analysis of cohesionless soils.” J. Geotech. Eng., 1016–1032.
Simicevic and Sterling. (2001). “Guidelines for pipe bursting.”, Trenchless Technology Center, Louisiana Technological Univ., Ruston, LA.
Siskind, D. E., Stagg, M. S., Kopp, J. W., and Dowding, C. H. (1980). “Structure response and damage produced by ground vibrations from surface blasting.” U.S. Bureau of Mines, Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC.
Stuedlein, A. W., and Meskele, T. (2012). “Preliminary design and engineering of pipe ramming installations.” J. Pipeline Syst. Eng. Pract., 125–134.
Stuedlein, A. W., and Meskele, T. (2013). “Analysis and design of pipe ramming installations.”, Oregon Dept. of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, Salem, OR, 622.
Van Staalduinen, P. C., and Waarts, P. H. (1992). “Prediction of vibrations due to pile driving.” Proc., 4th Int. Conf. on the Application of Stress-Wave Theory to Piles, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 159–166.
Wiss, J. F. (1981). “Construction vibrations: State of the art.” J. Geotech. Div., 107(2), 167–181.
Woods, R. D. (1997). “Dynamic effects of pile installation on adjacent structures.” National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 7 • Issue 1 • February 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 21, 2014
Accepted: Sep 23, 2015
Published online: Nov 6, 2015
Published in print: Feb 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 6, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.