“We even keep track of the weather at the building site”
At noon traffic is intense and business brisk at London’s world famous shopping artery. In the midst of it all, at 73-89 Oxford Street, a new commercial building is being constructed; only retaining the old, listed façade.
The site is at the junction of Oxford Street and Dean Street and stretches 50 meters along the south side of Oxford Street. Besides the commercial activities, many people reside in the area and there is also a church to the rear of the site. As required by the City of Westminster, the noise and dust levels are continuously monitored to minimize disturbance for shoppers, tourists, staff and residents in the vicinity.
Sensitive environment
To eliminate the potential risk for structural damage to the adjacent buildings SLR Consulting Limited, on behalf of their client, is also required by adjacent real estate owners and their respective insurance companies to continually monitor vibration levels. Paul Goring, Technical Director of Acoustics & Vibration at SLR in London, is in charge:
The environment is obviously very sensitive, and the work is scheduled to continue well into 2017. So we have made sure that we monitor noise and dust as well as vibration levels, using one coordinated INFRA system. We even monitor the local weather conditions at hand, throughout the construction monitoring period, within the same system.
One coordinated system
The INFRA equipment used on site includes two vibration sensors, two noise and two dust units. All data are continually relayed to and documented in one central system, and any excessive noise, dust or vibration levels activate an alert system which then notifies SLR and their client prompting an investigation.
“There are several advantages measuring all data in the same system”, says Paul Goring. “Most importantly, we get a better overview and are able to compare data from several different sensors within the same interface.”
Then he adds, with a smile: “The only thing that we don’t monitor is the loud and irritating music from some of the nearby stores.”
The monitoring work on 79-83 Oxford Street is scheduled to be completed in February 2017. Founded in 1994, SLR Consulting Limited is a fast growing independent international environmental consultancy with an expanding network of offices in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa. The company provides multidisciplinary advice from in-house experts on a wide range of strategic and site-specific environmental and sustainability issues.