Forensic Engineering, Legal Considerations, and Property Damage Assessment from Construction Vibrations

Abstract

Forensic geotechnical engineering is generally identified as a science concerned with relations between engineering and law. It does not generally embrace traditional disciplines. Other subdisciplines including geological, applied civil, hydrological, environmental, and geophysical must be considered prior to conducting an effective investigation and/or resolution of a failure. It is, therefore, obvious that the determination of the cause(s) of failure requires a thorough familiarity with an array of related disciplines and an ability to pursue different lines of investigation simultaneously. Specialized case history is presented where damage to sensitive structures from a variety of vibratory construction methods ranging from pile driving, highway construction, rock excavation and/or blasting, was considered. Twenty homeowners from a residential subdivision in the Florida Panhandle, USA, claimed damage including cracking to their residences during construction of various portions of city’s storm water treatment/enhancement project. It was also alleged that during excavation and construction of drainage structures, especially four subsurface treatment vaults that required installation and extraction of sheet piles using vibratory hammer, stability of the nearby residential structures was endangered and resulted in movement/cracking. Forensic engineering analysis was effectively utilized to identify, investigate, and remediate the concerns as well as assist in litigation and in some cases avoidance. This technical paper presents some legal issues related to identification, investigation, mediation, and resolution in conjunction with a case history that includes many elements of forensic engineering.