Direction for resident?

[Cidona]

Hello. I'm usually found hanging out on the fire protection forum but I have a problem and figured I might be able to get some good advise here.
I have a coach house in Chicago. 3 story frame with concrete footing and foundation. (1/2 1st floor below grade). I have just recently started living here after it had been previously tenant occupied.
I have noticed when vans or larger vechicles drive by the street parerall and 40' south of me I get a very 'conciderable shock wave'. I do not get any such wave when the vechicles drive by the alley imediatly west of me(2' away LOL). The road where the issue is coming from has some large patches where there have been some kind of repairs in the past. It has been suggested to me that it seems posible that there is some kind of 'pressurised air bubble' to create such a vibration.
The coach house is in the rear of the property where the surrounding properties have their garages so I am probably the only one feeling the vibration to this extent.
Since the problem seems to be coming from city property, what kind of process should I expect? Is this a commonly encountered problem? Does the above indicate something else? What kind of testing should be performed? Will hiring a Engineer as a consultant help expidiate the process? What criteria/areas of expertise should I looking for in a consulatant for this matter?
Thank you for any direction you can provide.

 

[oldestguy]

Unless there is on-going damage taking place, I suspect you will be wasting your time trying to get the City to "FIX" something.

Check with neighbors, as to their situation. If it is common and has been going on a long time, yet is not causing damage, you may not get it changed, even if that was possible.

Are you kept awake at night or similar problems? Are you just not "used to it yet"?

A bubble thing sounds unlikely, but there maybe some "conductor of vibrations" that your foundations sit on, such as a buried large concrete storm sewer.

If you are really bothered, there are experts in vibration reductions, etc., generally on the staff of a large Geotechnical firm. There are some good ones in Chicago.

 

[Cidona]

Thank you very much for the reply. I am going to take your advise and check with my neighbours. If I find some others also feeling similar effects, I'll mention it to my Alderman. It seems that buldings on either side of the road 'lean' towards the road. I'm not sure if the problmes are connected.
I'm not kept up at night (good sleeper) but it sends a shiver down my spine when I'm awake to think of the effects it could be having on my structure. A passing vechicle can make my file cabinets jump
Thank you again for your reply.

 

[cvg]

you might take a trip down to city hall and do some research on the street improvements and utilities in your street. The plans should be archived and available to the public. Assuming this is an older area, make sure you obtain the older plans as well as the more recent. This might help you develop your theory on how these vibrations are being generated.

These vibrations sound quite severe. Do you have high groundwater or leaking pipes in the area? Soft or saturated soils can transmit and amplify vibrations.

 

[Cidona]

Thank you for the suggestion on City Hall. Sounds like it's going to be a long slow process if anything ends up happening at all.
There isn't evidence of leaking pipes or what I would concider high ground water (about 5' below grade). My neighbours do feel vibration when vechicles pass the same part of the road. They have said their windows shake but I haven't had a good look at their windows to determine their condition. There is one medium sized pot hole that seems to be the source.
I'll let you know if I find out something interesting.
Thank you very much for the replies.

 

[cvg]

a leaking city water pipe or your water service line could cause saturated ground. Evidence of such a leak is not always present at the surface unless it is a large leak. Have you confirmed the water depth at 5 feet? Even 5 feet BGS is relatively high groundwater in comparison to almost any other area of the country except perhaps Florida and Louisiana. If half of your first floor is below grade, than it penetrates the normal groundwater level.

These vibrations are not normal at all. Our house is considerably closer than 40' from the street and we never get any vibration at all from passing vehicles.