Analysis of ground vibrations induced by pile driving and a comparison of vibration prediction methods

Abstract

A project was conducted to collect ground vibration data while driving three piles, one square concrete pile and two steel H-piles, in Mobile, AL. The vibration data were analysed in several ways to quantify the vibration magnitudes including using the horizontal distance, the scaled-distance approach and the seismic distance (SD). For each analysis, two prediction equations were fit to the data, one for the concrete pile and one for the H-piles. In each case, the soil attenuation parameter was larger for the concrete pile (1.6 for horizontal and scaled-distance, and 2.11 for SD) than the H-piles (0.93 for horizontal and scaled-distance, and 1.01 for SD). An example design is presented to outline the use of each method and compare the results. The example provides practitioners with a guideline to follow when evaluating which analysis procedures to consider for a specific project.