Reduction of Ground Vibration Transmission by Means of Double Wall Barriers

Abstract

Stiff wall barriers can be effective in reducing the transmission of environmental ground vibration. As double walls are used in building acoustics in order to realize a high level of sound insulation, the potential of using double jet-grout walls in reducing ground vibration transmission is investigated in this paper. The three-dimensional free field response due to a point load and a simplified train passage is computed using a two-and-a-half dimensional finite element methodology. In some cases, double jet-grout wall barriers are found to be slightly more effective than single wall barriers, in particular when the thickness of the walls and the intermediate soil matches a quarter Rayleigh wavelength. If there is a large difference between the soil and barrier stiffness, the performance is dominated by the stiffness effect and is similar for single and double wall barriers.