Hello --  I'm an immediate abutter to the pending repaving work
associated with the subdivision.  And sometimes the guy who asks
all the hard questions, I'll grant you.

Construction activities to date have largely centered on the roadbeds
going into the development, and part of those activities have involved
quite a bit of vibratory soil compaction.  I realize that building code
likely requires some amount of that but it's been rather disruptive to
the surrounding residences -- far more than the felling of hundreds of
trees that preceded it.  The houses along the north side of the street
have been closest to the activity and most affected to date, especially
at the corner whose owner reports glasses falling off her shelves and
similar damage.  The shaking and rattling has been somewhat less where
I am but still fairly profound, and as construction moves to the
street immediately in front of many of us I'm concerned that homes
of abutters including mine could sustain substantial damage from
indiscriminatory use of the vibrating roller.

After doing a little research into vibration damage in general I called
to ask the engineer if any mitigation strategy is possible, including
seismic monitoring at foundation walls or limiting use of the compaction
equipment, and he suggested that I express these concerns via email
to all concerned.  I would be happy to provide a place for vibration
monitoring on my property if suitable arrangements were made, especially
as I'm right next to where the big infiltration structures are supposed
to be going in.  We would really rather adopt a proactive rather than
reactive approach to this issue, as the long-term effects of damage
can be very subtle and filing insurance or legal claims is a burdensome
and error-prone process with many unprovable unknowns and endless
disputes about pre-existing conditions.

The Federal Transit Administration publishes guidelines [referenced below]
that suggest that dynamic compaction can easily generate soil vibration
over 0.2 peak particle velocity at the distances in question, which is
considered hazardous to most light-duty timber and masonry construction.
"Avoid vibratory rollers and packers near sensitive areas" is a direct
quote from that manual.  While we would ideally avoid ever reaching such
levels in immediate proximity to our homes in the first place, especially
when sustained over a range of frequencies such as in soil compaction,
it would be nice to be able to keep tabs on it and limit operations
accordingly.  Note that internal building resonances can amplify the
effects of vibration to dangerous levels even if direct seismic
recording shows lower measurements.

I do not believe that the developer is aware of these hazards or cares
what their effects might be, and should be asked to consider alternatives
to the procedures used to date.  Ideally there would be some protective
requirements imposed in this area before street-opening and related
permits are issued.

Thanks!

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References:

  Construction vibration damage guide for homeowners
   http://archive.org/download/cvdg17/cvdg17.pdf

  Transit noise and vibration impact
   http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Noise_and_Vibration_Manual.pdf

Googling for terms "vibration", "construction", "damage" etc will turn
up many more useful documents.