Monitoring the Impact of the Large Building Investments on the Neighborhood

Marian Łupieżowiec

doi:10.3390/app11146537

Abstract

The article presents the concept of monitoring buildings and infrastructure elements located near large construction investments (the construction of high-rise buildings of the Oak Terraces housing estate in Katowice and the construction of a tunnel under the roundabout in Katowice along the intercity express road DTŚ). The impacts include deep excavation, lowering of the groundwater level over a large area, and dynamic influences related to the use of impact methods of soil improvement. The presented monitoring includes observation of the groundwater level with the use of piezometers, geodetic measurements of settlement and inclinations, as well as the measurement of vibration amplitudes generated during the works involving shocks and vibrations. It was also important to observe the development of cracks on the basis of a previously made inventory of damage. The results of the monitoring allow corrections to be made in the technology of works (e.g., reduction of vibration amplitudes, application of additional protections at excavations, etc.) or the use additional safety measures. Currently, there are also monitoring systems used during the operation of completed facilities.

Highlights

Monitoring of the impact of works on the environment is one of the most important elements enabling the safe implementation of investment projects in urban development [1,2]
The monitoring of impacts is important in the context of the influence exerted by an investment project on its neighborhood, which was demonstrated with the examples included in the article
The main objective of monitoring is to develop a capability for making quick adjustments to the applied work execution technology or to introduce additional safety measures

Summary

Introduction

Monitoring of the impact of works on the environment is one of the most important elements enabling the safe implementation of investment projects in urban development [1,2]. Due to the increasingly scarce availability of land for development, investors are often forced to carry out construction works near other facilities [4] (with a risk of damaging adjacent buildings) and on poor grounds [5] (e.g., anthropogenic embankments with a high variability of granulometric composition and state of compaction, organic soils, etc.). Effective methods of ground improvement as well as technologies which allow the introduction of structural elements constituting an intermediate foundation or protection of scarps or excavation walls use shocks or vibrations [6]. They are usually destructive to nearby structures and can cause various types of damage, breakdowns, or even construction disasters. Due to the need to optimize spatial development, it is often necessary to make deep excavations, which may pose a threat to existing buildings [7,8,9,10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion