ESTIMATION OF THE GROUND VIBRATION PARAMETERS INDUCED BY BLASTING DURING TUNNEL EXCAVATION

5th International Scientific Conference - SGEM2005, www.sgem.org, SGEM2005 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN: 954-918181-2, June 13-17, 2005, 273- 280pp

ABSTRACT

“The Black Sea Coastal Way Rehabilitation Project” which started seven years ago in
order to relief in traffic flow in the Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey and presently
continues to complete their constructions. The project involves the rehabilitation and
shortening of the present motorway and hence the construction of new tunnels and riprap
material for filling the sea are required in some places. This paper involves one of the blast
based tunnel excavations, which is performed for “Yoroz Tunnel” situated in Trabzon in
north-east Turkey and presents the results of ground vibration measurements induced by
blasting.
Within the scope of the study, ground vibration components were measured using
vibration monitor at different locations for blast events during the advancement of about 260
meters length of the tunnel. The tunnel is in a residential part of the region. There are some
houses on the top and some 70 meters close to the surrounding tunnel. The local residents
complaints about the ground vibration, air-shock and noise from the tunnel blasts. A total of
32 blast events measurements were made for the estimation of the peak particle velocity and
to determine the slope of the attenuation curve together with the maximum charge per delay
for the test site. At the end of the statistical analysis of the data pairs, a final relation was
developed between peak particle velocity and scaled distance in terms of geological factors.
Finally, experiences gained during the blast based tunneling and the accumulated
information presented here are believed to be useful and reliable for a successful tunnel
excavation in similar formations.