Vibration Management and Listed Buildings

Summary

Listed buildings account for 2% of the building stock in England and of those listed buildings, only 2.5% are Grade I listed. Paddington Station, which includes MacMillan House, is Grade I listed because of its historical and architectural importance during the birth and early development of rail transportation in Britain. Very little information is published on the effects of vibration on listed buildings. However the penalties for damaging a listed building are severe, constituting a criminal offense in some cases. This is a case study on the vibration management measures undertaken on the Paddington Station works to protect MacMillan House from vibration arising from major civil construction activity. The risk of damage was assessed to be high given the frailty of MacMillan House and its proximity to the works. The document describes how vibration damage was successfully prevented using a regime of monitoring and surveillance. This case study is relevant to anyone with an interest in mitigating potential building damage from construction works, particularly heavy civil works adjacent to listed buildings.

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