Traffic-induced vibrations. The impact on buildings and people

Abstract

Traffic-induced vibrations have recently been of major concern to engineers as one of the aspects of so called physical environmental pollution. The interest is related to the observations of serious negative effects of such kind of vibrations on buildings and their inhabitants. Traffic-induced vibrations may cause plaster cracks, structural damage and even failure and collapse of the structure. They may also be the reason of serious complaints from people living inside buildings which experience vibrations. The aim of the present paper is to analyze the example of the family house located near a major road with heavy traffic. First, the details concerning the measuring procedure according to Polish standards have been described. Then, the results of the measurements conducted on site have been shown and the impact of traffic-induced vibrations on the structure has been analyses and discussed.