Impact of cast-in-place concrete column construction vibrations on sensitive occupancies

Construction activities required to renovate or enlarge buildings cause vibration levels that could impede facility functionality. Facility and construction managers should have an understanding of the magnitude and frequencies of construction vibrations and how far their effects travel in a building. Vertical elements such as columns in a building transmit the vibrations into other floors. The pouring and vibrating of concrete columns are expected to create high vibrations and transmit them vertically. This paper investigates the vibrations caused by construction activities, particularly those caused by concrete column pours, during the construction of three RC buildings. The RMS of the velocities at varying frequencies and varying building locations was recorded. The vibration levels were compared with the vibration criteria previously set for human environments. Significant increases in velocities were observed during column pours, especially for low frequencies. For low frequencies, vibrations exceeded the limits for operation rooms and rat vivariums. Velocities did not decrease consistently with increasing distances from the column pour within one structural bay.