Generic Third-Octave Band Spectra For Construction Equipment

Abstract

  A review of the literature on assessments of the impact of construction vibration on sensitive buildings and activities suggests that there is a reliance on total vibration levels without consideration of the spectra of different equipment. The author has reviewed a number of sources of information, including measurement reports, textbooks, and conference publications, in order to arrive at generic spectra for nineteen different types of construction equipment. The methodology relied upon the available information about total vibration levels and assumptions regarding different frequency regimes. At low frequency, a constant displacement was assumed that transitions at mid-frequencies to constant velocity, followed at high frequencies by constant acceleration. The resulting spectra from 1 Hz to 250 Hz correspond to the information available from other sources in a generic sense. The application of these construction-equipment spectra requires further information about the propagation losses of vibration from a construction site to a sensitive building or activity. Methods for documenting propagation losses are also addressed.