Trench is Pickin' Up Good Vibrations 

Vibration Reduction Method at Harvard U is a Huge Success! 

Editor: Allison Braswell 

Harvard University in Cambridge, MA 

Allied Pile Driving is conducting a supportive excavation for a new laboratory building on campus that will provide more space for students to engage in world-class scientific research. They are creating a temporary earth retaining system by using two ICE® 44 Variable Moment Vibratory Hammers from International Construction Equipment, Inc (ICE®) to drive thousands of AZ-36-700 sheet piles of 45' (ft) lengths. 

According to the contractor, one of the biggest challenges of this job is that the construction is taking place extremely close to a 200-foot-cubed cooling building. Below the campus sidewalks lies a network of pipes that deliver cooling from this structure to all other Harvard campus buildings, including dorm rooms. Vibrations from driving pile might disturb the underground pipes and potentially alter the cool air flow that not only gives comfort to the students, faculty, and staff during the height of summer, but also helps preserve the ancient artifacts displayed at Harvard's museums and galleries. After some discussion with their ICE® Service representative, the Allied Pile Driving team came up with a creative solution for minimizing the effects of the vibrations: Digging a trench. 

With the use of a simple trencher and guidance from a long-time foundations expert of the ICE® Northeast sales team, the crew dug a trench at a 24" (in) width and 18" depth between the pile driving site of the retaining wall and the road. By doing this, they saw an 80% reduction in vibrations on the other side of the trench and were able to avoid any disturbance to the cooling system. 

Spectacular job, Allied Pile Driving! ICE® is proud to have collaborated on this successful mitigation of vibrations while working toward enhancing Harvard education, allowing the next generation of workers to make groundbreaking contributions in their fields. 

Learn more about the ICE® 44VM. 

Media Contact-    
Pollyanna Cunningham, MA, MBA    
Vice President Marketing, Brand and Media Relations  

Vice President IT and IT Comm 
ICE® - International Construction Equipment, Inc    
Office - 704-821-8200    
Email - marketing@iceusa.com