Section 880. Ground vibration from blasting

A. Ground vibration, measured as peak particle velocity resulting from blasting, shall not exceed the limits set forth below at any inhabited building not owned or leased by the operator, without approval of the director. A seismographic record shall be provided for each blast.

Distance (D) to nearest inhabited building, feet	Peak Particle Velocity, inches per second
0 - 300	1.25
301 - 5,000	1.00
5,001 and beyond	0.75

B. Seismic monitoring of each blast shall be conducted, unless the scaled distance, Ds, as calculated with the following scaled distance formulas, is 90 or greater:

W = Maximum charge weight of explosives per delay period of 8.0 milliseconds or more.

D = Distance in feet from the blast site to the nearest inhabited building not owned or leased by the mine operator.

C. The operator may use the alternative ground vibration limits shown below to determine the maximum allowable ground vibration. If these limits are used, a seismographic record including both particle velocity and vibration frequency levels shall be kept for each blast. Ground vibration levels and airblast levels are taken from the Blasting Guidance Manual.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR480-05-1.2 § 6.11, eff. July 19, 1989; amended, Volume 14, Issue 17, eff. July 1, 1998; Volume 25, Issue 20, eff. July 8, 2009.

Statutory Authority

§§ 45.1-161.3, 45.1-161.294 and 45.1-161.305 of the Code of Virginia.