Ground Movements due to Underground Construction and Impact on Built Environment
Ground Movements due to Underground Construction and Impact on Built Environment
Underground construction (e.g. for new transportation links or improved waste water networks) inevitably cause local ground movements to occur. In an urban environment these ground movements can cause damage to existing infrastructure, especially buildings on the ground surface.
Research is underway to support measures to protect existing buildings from the damaging effects of construction-induced ground movements. This work includes projects ranging from the development of computational procedures to predict the likely risk of damage to existing buildings through to the development of field monitoring system, incorporating computer vision-based approaches, to better understand the way in which masonry structures respond to local construction-induced ground movements. The research projects summarised below are being conducted by Profs. Sinan Acikgoz and Harvey Burd. Two graduate students – Ms Derya Burcu Gulen and Mr Yiyan Liu – currently have doctoral projects in this area.