Blasting Close To Existing Structures

European Shotfirer Standard Education For Enhanced Mobility – ESSEEM –
EFEE made the basic training manual for

Rock blasting education in 2004.
The ESSEEM project was carried out through the years

2008 – 2010.
NFF (Norwegian Tunneling Society) was the contractor.
The project had partners from 6 European countries.
Frank
Hammelmann
Jörg Erik
Rennert Nilsson
Juoko Aslak
Salonen Ravlo
European Shotfirer Standard

Ferjencik
Milos
Education for Enhanced Mobility
– ESSEEM –
Walter
Werner Jose Carlos
Gois
Karl Antonio
Kure Vieira
The training material prepared by the ESSEEM project included

about 1300 slides and images. The level was to high to be used
for the education of shotfirers.
A Norwegian/Swedish group has evaluated the slides and images,
and has reduced the content.
The new version of the ESSEEM slides and images program was
presented in the EFEE-workshop in Zandvoort at the end of April
2013.
NFF working group:

11 experienced blasters and blast designers, contractors and advisers
NFF : Jan Kristiansen Karl Kure

Amund Bruland Bjørn Petterson
Aslak Ravlo Hans Christen Evensen
Vegard Olsen Thor Andersen
Olav Fjellstad John Eriksen
BEF : Jan Johansson,
The Working Group has taken into account the comments

provided by participants in the workshop and presents herewith
an edited version of the training material.
There will still be some chapters that could better suit the
educational requirements for the education of a modern European
blaster.
However, this must be presented in future revised versions.
This version is now free to be used for the EFEE members who
wants to translate the training means to the national language.
August 2013
NFF, Norwegian EFEE, Shotfiring
Tunneling Society Comittee
Copyright Notice
The pages and documents developed during the ESSEEM
project are subject to copyright .Unless you have prior written
permission from European Federation of Explosives Engineers
(EFEE), no part of these pages and documents may be
reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means
to a third party. You are granted the right to use the material
received and making copies for private use only. This right does
not grant you, or any person, the right to include any of the
materials in a published work without prior written permission
from EFEE.
Disclaimer
Please note that the information developed in the ESSEEM
project is of a general nature and is intended to be a guideline
for the course leading to an EFEE rock blasting certificate.
Professional advice should be taken before any course of action
is pursued. The information presented here is offered free of
charge and, accordingly, EFEE takes no responsibility for any
loss occasioned by the use of the information presented here for
whatever reason. .
ESSEEM project WP 9 :
Blasting close to existing structures
Author : Karl Kure, Norway
8
Course planning Time
(5 hours)
Blasting parameters 15 min

Different reasons for blasting damage 90 min
Flyrock 15 min
The use of blasting mats 60 min
Line drilling and blasting 60 min
Charge calculation, initiation plan 60 min
9
The problems by blasting close to existing

structures are in this lecture described :
• by means of practical examples taken from projects where

blasting damage has occurred.
• by showing practical methods from difficult projects where blasting

has been carried through without damage.
10
SMAL HOLES
Borgang 11 og 12 2”
34 to 40 mm 51 mm
BIG HOLES
(2” to ) 2 ½ “ (2 ½ “ to) 4”, 102 mm
64 mm
11
11
The risk for blasting damage in build-up

areas depends very much on :
- the distance from the blast round to the structure
- the size of the charges detonating at each time interval
• Different borehole diameters are in use, however

close to a building only small boreholes should
be used.
12
12
By the use of small charges, which often has to be divided into

different decks, the cartridges mostly have a diameter from 22 to
40 mm. The bore hole diameter suited for this cartridges are 1” to
2” inch (25 to 51 mm).
Large charges in bore holes with diameter bigger than 2 ½ “ (64 mm)
should only be used by distances from the blast round to the building
above 20 m.
13
13
In most European countries hundreds of

blast rounds are fired every day.
In the nordic countries we can hardly not build a flat, a one

family house, a short piece of road or railroad without
blasting.
A few of this hundreds of blast rounds tend to go wrong.
We will show you some damage examples and discuss the

reason for the damage.
14
Experience
The following pictures and drawings from real worst cases have been
selected from records covering the last 3 decades. These are
instructive examples for the type of damage that may occur during a
blasting operation.
The distances from the blast rounds to the structures are different.
The size of the charges and the diameter of the boreholes are also
different from case to case.
15
Different reasons for blasting damage :

• Type 2.1 :
When the charges brake into the structure
(close by).
• Type 2.2 :
When the rock mass moves towards the
structure (a distance of some meters).
• Type2.3 :
When an overloaded blast round is thrown
towards the structure (a distance of some
meters).
• Type 2.4 :
When pieces of flyrock are thrown and hit
human beings and structures (by construction
blasting up to a distance of some hundreds
meters). 16
Type 2.1 When the charges breack into

the structure (close by).
17
17
Type 2.2 When the rock mass moves

towards the structure
(at a distance of some meters)
18
Type 2.3 When an overloaded blast round

is thrown towards the structure
(at a distance of some meters).
19
19
980226 Flyrock thrown towards

a sports hall
Flyrock was thrown across the road and over a school
building towards the Grimstad sports hall where a person
sitting in a car was hit and instantly killed.
The stone weighed 2.9 kg.
20
Type 2.1 When the charges break into

the nearby structure (very close by the
blast round).
This may happen :

a) by using small charges (cartridges up to 30 mm) when the
distances are between 0 and 1 m.
b) By using largeer charges (artridges up to 40 mm)

when the distances are up to 3 m.
Example 1 : New warehouse

Example 2 : Trenching close to a wall
21
Type 2.1 Example 1 :

980918 New warehouse
22

A new warehouse close to an existing building was planned.

The base was to be one floor deeper than the existing building.
The excavation of the earth before the blast left the foundation
under one corner of the existing building “hanging in the air”
and it had to be supported.
The corner of the wall was not jacked up. The stress was not
released by this support.
23
23
Type 2.1, Example 1 :

The rock was layered at the site.
The joints run from the blast round in under the floor of the
existing building.
Holes were drilled and some grouted bolts were installed.
A row of contour holes (60 cm spacing) was drilled and blasted

together with the normal blast holes in the same blast round.
24
980918-1 New warehouse.

Layered rock. The charges broke in under the structure and
lifted it up.
25
Type 2.1 Example 1, New warehouse
Cut through the rock and the existing house
showing the situation before the last blastround
Brickwork
Rock
wood
bolting
Concrete
Concrete wall
Charge
Explosive gases
26
In the last blast round only a row of contour
charges were blasted. The contour tube charge
was about 0,3 kg gurit in each hole, initiated on
one detonator time interval. The distance from the
charge to the concrete wall was 1 m.
Vibration : √Q √0,3
v = k ------- = 350 --------- = 192 mm/s
d 1,0
The concrete wall was exposed for high vibration

in addition to the explosive gas pressure into the
rock through the cracks under the building.
27
The crack in the outside brick wall was 7 cm wide.
28

The reinforced concrete foundation had about 10 new
vertical cracks
29
The reasons for the damage :
1) The vertical stress in the foundation was not released before

the blast round was fired.
2) There was inadequate rock bolting.
3) The charge size was too large.
4) The gas pressure penetrated the rock under the building and
lifted it up .
30
Type 2.1, Example 2 : 020114

Trenching close to a wall
The building was founded directly on the rock ground just a few cm
beneath the outside surface ground level.
The rock at the site is horizontally layered.

A narrow 1.5 m deep drainage trench had to be blasted outside
the wall all the way around the building.
The line drilling method was not used, no contour holes were drilled
and no special measures were taken to prevent backbreak under
the basement wall.
Normal trench blasting methodes were wrongly used not taking into
accont the short distances to the basement wall.
31
020114-1 Trenching close to a wall.

The basment wall was pressed in and damaged
from the trench blasting all the way around.
32

The were a lot of cracks in the basement wall on
all sides (srrovs).
33
The crack in the unreinforced basement wall ran

from the top to the bottom of the wall.
34
1) The blast holes were drilled to close to the wall.
2) No gas evacuation holes were drilled (no line drilling).
3) The gas pressure followed the horizontal cracks under

the building and lifted it up.
35
35
Type 2.2 When the rock mass moves

towards the structure
(at a distance of some metres).
This may happen when:

a) using small chargesthe distances are less than 5 m
b) using large chargesthe distances are less than 10 m
Example 1 : Rock movement due to trenching
Example 2 : Rock movement as a result of heavy

confinement by quarry blasting
36
000224-2 Rock movement due to trenching

The trench was located in the middle of the road (left
side in the picture)
37
Type 2.2 Example 1: 000224

Rock movement by trenching
A very deep trench (6 m) had to be blasted about 8 m from a family

house founded on rock ground. The pit for the basement of the
existing house, when it was built, was blasted down into the rock.
The bedding in the rock mass runs directly from the blast round
situated in the road to the house.
The blast round was extremely heavily loaded.

No special efforts were made to prevent the explosive force from
moving the rock in the direction of the house.
38
38
O00224-2 Rock movment by trenching
The rock was layered
39

As a result of the blasting in a 5 m deep trench, the rock
mass moved 8 m towards the nearby house.
 8m 
BEDDED ROCK Cracks in the
Frozen clayey soil basement wall
Road cut
5 6
3 4
crack
1 2
0
8m
house
Burden and spacing : 1,3 x 1,5 m, depth : 5 m

41

The detonation pressure moved the rock mass 8 m
and caused a vertical crack in the wall at the corner .
42

The movement of the rock mass caused horizontal cracks in
the basement wall.
43
1) 5 m deep drill holes are too deep for a blast round in

a trench so close to the house. Because of the depth
the trench should have been divided into two parts, by
blasting 2,5 m deep each blast round. The borhole
diameter was 2” (51 mm).
2) The charges had to be extremely heavy (Dynamite,

40 x 400 mm and ANFO) to break and move the rock
forward in such a deep trench. The powder factor
(inside the hole rows) was 1,57 kg/cbm, twice as much
as necessarry by shallow trenches in layered rock .
3) The soil at the surface was frozen, the rock was bedded.
This favored the movement of the rock mass towards the
house.
44
Type 2.2, Example 2 : 980102 Rock movement as

a result of heavy confinement by quarry
blasting
A large blast round had to be blasted in a quarry, about 15 m from

a storage hall. The distance from the blast round to the rock wall
was only 10-12 m.
The blast round was on average 12.5 m deep, and was drilled
using a 3 1/2” (88 mm) diameter drill bit. The holes were loaded
using emulsion slurries.
The sloped bedding in the rock mass runs directly from the blast
round to the rock wall close to the storage hall.
45
980102-1 Rock movement as a result

of quarry blasting
The 10-12 m thick rock mass moved as a result of

the pressure from the round against a storage hall.
Distance
Section A - A 10-12 m
Level
40 m
Level
35 m
Level Level
Storage hall 30 m
Approx.
27 m
Rock, gravel
46
980201-4 Rock movement as a result of

quarry blasting
The blast round included about 100 loaded holes. The detonation
started in the centre of the wide V. This resulted in an enormous
pressure against the rock mass along the hall.
Section A
Level 40m
Level 35m
Distance to the charge
approx. 15m
Level 30m
47
980102- 2 Rock movement as a result of

quarry blasting
The bedding in the rock ran from the round in the direction of the storage
hall. Resistance against the pressure from the large round was low. The
upper part of the rock mass moved towards the hall.
48
980201-3 Rock movement as a result of

quarry blasting
The bedding planes, running from the blast round towards the hall
are smooth. The resistance against movement along the planes is low.
49

of quarry blasting.
Large parts of the wooden hall construction and the
corrugated sheets were destroyed (already partly replaced).
50

of quarry blasting.
Flyrock destroyed the roof.
51
1) The time intervals, 25 ms between the rows and 17 ms

inside the rows, were generally too short for such a big
blast round (100 holes) formed like a wide V by such a
short distance through the rock to the hall.
2) The V-shape of the blast round and the order of the

time intervals resulted in an enormous pressure from
the detonating charges backwards against the rock in
the back wall close to the hall.
3) The direction of the cracks in the bedding plane gave

very low resistance against the movement of the
rock mass backwards against the building.
52
Type 2.3 : When an overloaded

blast round is thrown towards
the structure
This may happen when :

a) using small chargesthe distances are from 0 to 10 m
b) using large chargesthe distances are from 0 to 20 m
Example 1 : Blasting close to a wharfside shed

Example 2 : Blasting for a garage foundation
53

001115 Blasting close to a wharfside
shed
A pit for the foundations of a new workshop were to be blasted out

about 10 m from the existing warehouse lying directly on the wharf.
The rock at the site was solid.
The icescoured rock surface in the blast area fell at an angle about
30 degrees towards the wharfside shed.
The blast round was overloaded.
54
001115-1 Blasting close to a

wharfside shed
The left-hand part of the building along the wharf was
destroyed by the blast round at the back of the warehouse.
55

wharfside shed
About 20 tons of fragmented rock and rubber mats were
thrown against and onto the warehouse.
56

wharf/warehouse
The wooden strip indicates where the rock surface was
before the blast was fired ( the workshop was built after
the blasting work was carried through).
57

wharfside shed/warehouse
The destruction inside was enormous.
58

wharfside shed/warehouse
Horizontal pressure moved the landing . The concrete
columns under the landing were broken horizontally.
59
1) The rock surface was smooth, nowhere an open faces

as front for the first blast round.
2) To get an opening in the rock mass the powder factor

generally had to be high, but here it was overloaded.
3) The blastability of the rock type at the site (gneiss) is

evaluated to be poor.
4) For a trial blast, the blast round generally was too big.
A small opening blast round should have been blasted
out first to establish a vertical front for the next blast round.
60

001107 Garage foundation
A pit for the foundation of a garage had to be blasted out close to

the family house.The house was founded directly upon the rock
surface.
The rock surface and the bedding fell towards the house.
There were also some nearly vertical cracks running from the
blast round in the direction to the house.
The blast round was overloaded. The powder factor was too
high.
The house was totally destroyed by the blast and had to be

torn down.
61
001107-1 Garage foundation

The fragmented rock mass was thrown against the
house nearby.
62

Layered and jointed limestone rock.
63

The house was displaced 27 cm, measured at the
corner nearest to the blast round.
64

The fragmented rock broke through the wall into the stairway.
65

The chimney was badly damaged.
66
1. The opening blast round was too big.
2. The holes were too heavily charged

for the dense borehole pattern.
3. The blast round was completely over-loaded,

the powder factor was in average 0,77 kg/cbm,
0,81 in the first row.
4. Some vertical cracks in the rock mass ran straight
from the bore holes in the direction to the house
redused the resistance against through of the mass.
67
Possible damage :
Type 2.4 : When flyrock is thrown towards
human beings and buildings.
This may happen when :

a) using small chargesthe distances are up to 500 m
b) using large charges the distances are up to 1000 m
Example 1: Flyrock thrown towards a sports hall
Example 2: Flyrock thrown into a parking area
68
Flyrock killed a person by a

sports hall.
• An industrial area for a new building had to be blasted

out. The blasting work was almost finished when an
accident occured.
• Relatively close by the blast round ( about 100 m)
there were a nursery school, a secondary school and
3-400 m further a sports hall.
• The rock mass in the blast round was in the range of 5000
cub.m. The rock mass at the site was jointed. Boulders also
had to be blasted in the same blast round.
69
Flyrock killed a person by a

sports hall.
A spray of flyrock flew over the school building (right in
the picture) towards the sports hall (arrow).
70
980226 Flyrock thrown towards

a sports hall
Flyrock was thrown across the road and over a school
building towards the Grimstad sports hall where a person
sitting in a car was hit and instantly killed.
The stone weighed 2.9 kg.
71
980226-3 Flyrock thrown towards a

sports hall
Cut through the blast round and the loaded boulders.
The boulders were also blasted in the same blast round.
Stemming 2 m Stemming first row 3.0-3.5 m
Throw
2.5” drill holes direction
1.8 X 2.3 m
7.0 m
pattern
Stone
Stone 5m
5 m3
Blasted rock
material
Row 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Sub-drilling 1m
72
Flyrock killed a person by a sports hall.

Many blast rounds had been fired ahead of the
catastrophic blast round.
Some small flying pieces of rock had from two blast rounds had landed
on the flat roof of the nearby secondary school. No damage had
occurred so far, but no-one in the site office seemed to take the
warning and see that this could mean a big danger for flyrock.
About 5 big boulders (pop-hole shooting with 2 ½” holes and 50

mm dynamite cartridges) was also fired together with the big blast
round.
A picture taken from the bench before the blast round was fired shows
that there a weakness zone running through the front of the bench.
The piece of flyrock that killed a person in a car by the sports hall, flew
432 m through the air, hit the asphalt and ricocheted off into the car
window and hit a person sitting there.
73
Type 2.4 When pieces of flyrock are thrown

towards human beings, animals
and structures (at a few to some
hundred meters distance)
branch
Ca. 40 degrees
Person in a car asphalt asphalt
74
980226-4 Flyrock thrown towards a

sports hall
A crushed zone in the rock mass at the front of the blast
round (yellow circle) marks the area where the unlucky
piece of flyrock presumably came from.
75
The reasons for the flyrock :
A 5000 cub.m. blast round is too big to monitor for flyrock and
to cover with blasting mats in a build up area.
The distances to the public buildings in the surroundings were

too short to be ignored with regard to the risk for flyrock.
The unlucky piece of flyrock might presumably (80%) have come

from the weakness zone in the bench front. It could however (maybe
less than 20 % plausible) have come from one of the 5 big boulders
that was blasted together with the bench. This was never clarified.
76

Flyrock thrown into a parking area A
The sixth blast round in a road cut, was drilled and loaded. By the first
firing of the blast round only the contour charges detonated
(detonators failed). Because of the high vibration level (the contour
charges did bot brake through) a small part of the vertically jointed
rock in the front of the blast round fell out. The burden in the first row
was by this reduced.
By the second firing, large pieces of flyrock were thrown towards the
nearby shopping centre and the parking area. A member of the
blasting crew (guard) was killed by a heavy stone (about 200 kg).
The stone flew about 80 m foreward through the air from the front of
the blast round.
77
030226-1 Flyrock thrown into a

parking area - drawing 1
The distance from the blast round to the parking area
by the shopping centre was definitly to short.
Blast Distance to parking area

round
no. 6 80 m
78
Type 2.4 Example 2 : Flyrock thrown

into a parking area
The diameter of the boreholes was 70 mm. The holes were

loaded using ANFO and dynamite.
The initiating system was non-electric detonators in

combination with surface delays. The ranking of the delay
numbers was like normal for this type of blasting work.
The distance from the blast round to the parking area was
very short in relationship to the accepted danger distances
for flyrock.
79
030226-2 Flyrock thrown onto a parking area

Picture taken after the first insufficient blast. There are
som rubber mats lying at the front of the bench. These
mats fell down together with some layers of rock during
the first blast.
80

parking area
The blast round was covered by rubber mats the second
time by the second blast round at the same bench.
81

parking area
The explosives in the blast round is detonating. Flyrock can
be seen in the front of the blasting fumes . At least two of the
detonating charges “are blowing up the stemming” and the
mats are lifted up into the air.
82

parking area
An overview picture of the same area as photo 1 and 2.
The muck pile from the blast round is not thrown further
forwards than normal by bench blasting in a road cut.
Does the blast round seem

to be overloaded ?
83

parking area. Drawing 2
Outfall
from
the
first
misfire
Over-
loaded
area
FLYROCK from the
second
blast
84
The reasons for the flyrock :
1) The main reason for the catastrophic flyrock was found to be

an undetected thin burden in the first row due to rock fall
caused by vibration from the first unsuccessful blast.
2) The misfire of the first blast was caused by destruction of the

NONEL tubes. (An excavator belted out on the covering mats
after the coupling of the tubes).
3) I n the case, the shotfirer, the blasting contractor, the main

contractor and the client were all found guilty and sentenced
through legal proceedings.
85
3.0 Main reasons for flyrock
• The blast round is overloaded
• The blast round is underloaded
• The stemming is not sufficient
• Borehole deviation, inaccurate pattern
• Irregular bench front
• Unforeseen rock weakness in the front

• Unfavourable firing plan (short/long time intervals)
• Breaks/caverns filled with explosive
86
3.0 Why does the risk exist in

the examples used ?
For discussion :
3.1 Is the reason for the damage that the distance

from the charge to the structure is too short ?
3.2 Is the reason for the damage that the strength

of the rock mass is too low ?
3.3 Is the main reason for the damage that

excessively high powder factors are used ?
3.4 What are the reasons for the damage by flyrock?

Is it due to poor drilling, loading, mat covering, etc ?
87
4.0 What should you look for when

planning a blast round close to
structures ?
For discussion :
4.1 Look for the strength of the structure and the

quality of the rock.
4.2 Are there joints, cracks or layered rock in the

rock mass?
4.3 Calculation of the charges, powder factor and

initiation plan.
4.4 Besides of direct movement of the rock mass,

watch out for flyrock being thrown towards
human beings, animals and structures.
88
Blasting close to structures
Main differences from free blasting :
Backbreak into or under the structure can not

be accepted.
The level of the vibration has to be controlled

at the structure foundation.
Low (but not too low) powder factor and reduced

throw of the rock masses has to be accepted.
The blast round has to be covered by heavy,

flexible rubber mats.
89
Blasting close to a construction

By blasting direct outside a construction, the rock mass or
fragmented rock may move into the construction if you do
not include measures to prevent this.
House
Planned 
excavation
90
Blasting close to a construction

The non-problematc part of the rock mass must be
blasted out first.
The house wall mest be digged free before the blast.
The gravel
has to be
removed
This part
House has to be
blasted out
first
91
Covering of blast rounds with

rubber mats :
Rubber mats must be made from strong and tough
materials, like lorry tyres and coarse steel wires.
92
Covering of blast rounds with

rubber mats :
• Before the rubber mat covering can be placed over the charged
blast round, everything has to be checked :
• The front of the blast round has to be covered by coarse material sorted
out from the last muck pile. The stone covering in the front must be filled
higher than the height of the bottom charge.
The length of the stemming must at
least be as long as the burden.
In the first row the stemming
should be a bit longer.
Coarse fragmented rock
93
Bench blasting :
The most dangerous flyrock will come
From the upper part of the bench front.
chains
bolt
94
Trench blasting :
high specific charge that means :
heavy covering will be needed
chains
bolt
Loaded boreholes Holes not in use in this blast round
95
The rubber mats

must together act
as a single sheet.
It is necessary to
connect the mats.
It is practical to use
chain slings to
connect the rubber
mats.
96
The following pictures will show

on the hand of examples how
blast rounds can be covered by
using rubber blasting mats.
97
010305, The drilling of blast round

nr. 3 is finished.
Example 1, picture 1
98
010305, Blast round nr. 3 has been loaded

and covered by mats. Chain slings
hold the mats together.
Chain slings
99
010305, Blast round nr. 3 after the blast.

The mats have held the
fragmented rock together well.
100
010305, Blast round nr. 5 is loaded

and covered by blasting mats.
101
010305, The rubber mats, covering

blast round nr. 5 are
connected by chain slings.
102
010305, Blast round nr 5 :

After the blast. The chain slings
have held the sheet of mats together.
103
010305, Blast round nr. 5 . The blasting

mats have been removed. The blasted
rock material has been held together by
the blasting mats (and the right amount of
explosives).
104
The blast round is loaded,

the electric wires are coupled
105
The blast round is covered by rubber mats,

no chain slings or wires were used in this
case to connect the mats.
106
After the blast. A good result.

one of the mats has been pushed off.
107
5.0 What help can we expect from

the rubber blasting mats and other
safety measures ?
For discussion :
5.1 Is it possible to stop the backbreak by means of

blasting mats when the distances between the
charge and the nearby structure are short ?
5.2 Will the use of mats help to prevent the movement

of the rock if the blast round is overloaded ?
5.3 Is it possible to stop the fragmented rock mass
when the blast round is overloaded ?
5.4 Is it possible to stop bigger pieces of flyrock

through the use of blasting mats ?
108
6.0 Possible damage caused by

blast vibrations ?
6.1 In the case of short distances, are the blast

vibrations also a cause of the damage ?
6.2 What is the main cause of the damage -

movement of the rock mass or vibrations ?
6.3 Does an overloaded blast round mainly cause

damage through vibration or through flyrock ?
6.4 How do human beings, buildings and other

structures react when subjected to blast
vibrations ?
109
Vibration and “direct movement” of the

rock mass caused by blasting :
In the case of distances shorter than 5 to 10 metres, “direct

movement” of the rock mass is normal the only or the main reason
for the damage.
In the case of distances longer than 5 to 10 metres, high vibration

level is virtually the only reason for the damage.
110
“Direct movement of the rock”

occurs owing to:
• Distance : mostly in the range up to 5 m.
• Ground : layered rock, flaky rock, soft ground between rock and
structure.
• Confinement : The walls are not dug free from gravel.
• Structure : Walls built of brick or blocks are not constructed to

withstand powerful horizontal dynamic or static pressure.
• Detonation power : When planning a blast round do not forget:

 action = reaction.
111
BLAST VIBRATIONS
This theme is described and discussed under the
chapter “Bench blasting”
112
6.1 Blasting methods and vibration level

at short distances to nearby structures.
When the blasting work is carried through in hard rock, by distances up till
5 m from the structure , the frequency in the vibration signal is normally
very high (much higher than the resonance frequency of the structure).
At high frequency, higher vibration levels can be

accepted without damage.
 Methods like line drilling or wire sawing

between the structure and the charges will
normally damp the vibrations to some extent.
To reduce the vibrations the use of hydraulic

spike hammers instead of drilling and blasting is
a much used alternative close to the structures.
113
Practical job :
Method :
Line drilling and blasting
7.1 Example : Line drilling by

the “Notary’s house”
114
The principle of the “Line drilling and blasting” method is that

the holes, drilled in a line outside the wall, shall be an artificial
weaknes zone. The charges in the loaded holes direct outside
of the “hole line” shall not break the rock inside of the “line”.
20-35 cm
50 cm
50 cm
8-15 cm
Charged holes
115
The blast direction must be alongside, not square to the

building.
116
010628-1 “Notary’s house”

The task : The rock mass should be blasted away as
close as possible to the unreinforced concrete
basement wall. The house was founded directly on
the rock ground.
117
The method “Line drilling and blasting”
By using the method of “line drilling and blasting” by “The Notary’s

house” a row of holes was drilled as close to the house wall as
practically possible.
The blast rounds along the wall were small, normally 6 to 8
holes.
The borehole diameter was small, 35 mm up to 2”.
The charges were small, divided into 2 or 3 decks.
Initiation started in the charge in the upper deck in the holes

where the distance to the wall was the bigest.
By good planning, 5 and more blast rounds a day could be charged,

covered by mats and fired.
118
010628-2, “Notary’s house”, Line drilling

50 cm from the wall.
The result was good. The line-drilled holes were normally not loaded.
Joint sets in the rock mass which has an angle of more than 45 degrees
to the wall will result in “fallouts”.
119
010628 -3, “Notary’s house”, Line drilling

square to joints works well.
The distances between the bore holes were planned to be in the same
size as the diameter of the boreholes. The line-drilled holes act like an
artificial weakness zone.
120
010528-4, “Notary’s house”, Line drilling

along the north wall.
It is difficult but not impossible to drill the holes straight through the joint
planes. Sometimes, however, it will be necessary to use small charges in
the bottom of a few line-drilled holes in cases where the holes pass
through joint planes.
121
010628-5 “Notary’s house”, Line drilling and

smooth blasting at the west wall.
By a mistake, the ”line drilling” was not carried out at the southern part of
the wall. The result of the blast was poor in that area.
122

The second blast round. Heavy rubber mats are important as
protection against flyrock .
123

Bad fragmentation has to be accepted in this type of
blasting work.
124

Line drilling at both ”around” the corner.
125

A successful blast round. The line-drilled holes act as a
weakness zone.
126

The next blast round will cause the split to continue
along the line-drilled row of holes
127

The splitting along the line-drilled row of holes worked well.
Heavy mats were used by every blast round.
128

The loading process.
129

A blast round with only 3 holes is loaded. The electric wires are
coupled together. The holes are stemmed and filled up to the
top with sand.
130

Fragmentation is coarse, in particular at the top of the
muck pile.
131
The charges in the holes close to the ”line drilling ” has in this case to
be divided into 3 decks. 3 decks are also necessary in the second row
of blast holes outside the wall. In the last two rows, two decks will
sufficient.
The charge in each
hole and in each deck
has separately to be
exact calculated.
Each charge in each
deck in each hole
must be given a
separate initiation
interval time.
132
The distance (d) from the wall foundation to the different parts
of the hole charges (Q) can be calculated separatly and used
in the calculation formula.
133
Vibration
With distances from the structure to the charge in the
range up to 3 m, a simple formula for the calculation of the
vibration from each of the 3 or 2 charges in each deck can
be used :
√Q
v = k --------
d
Q = Charge pr detonator interval (kg)
d= distance from the house to each of the divided charges (m)
k = factor for the ability of the rock to transmit vibration. With a short
distance normally k = 350 or higher (calculated from vibration
measurements)
v = max “allowed” vibration (mm/s). By small charges the level can be

set to 100 mm/s. 134
The area that the charge loaded in one single hole is “responsible
for” by the blast, must be calculated.
Surface
area for burden
one hole
Blast direction
135
The top area (A) and the unit volume of the rock prism that each hole has
to break, from the top of the bench to the bottom, has to be calculated.
This must be done before the deck
charge can be calculated.
Together, this must form the basis
for the specific charge in the blast
round.
136
The total charge in those holes Surfage

area for
which are closest to the one hole
line- drilled holes is divided into
3 separate deck charges.
These 3 charges together 50 cm dry stemming
must be sufficient to break
out the calculated unit volume Smooth charge 1
of rock.
30 cm dry stemming
h
Smooth charge 2
30 cm dry stemming
Bottom charge 3
137
When blasting in the area up to 3 m from the structure, the

powder factor should normally be :
0.30 to 0.35 kg dynamite/cub.m.
In soft rock even less.
• It is however a poor precaution to use less explosive than required

for the particular type of rock at the site.
• If the powder factor is too low, the rock mass will not break.
 In that case the vibration at the nearby structure will rise up to 3
times higher than planned by the calculation.
138
There are different methods for creating a “weakness zone” or a split

along one side of the building to split of the rock mass that has to be
blasted from the rock mass under the nearby building structure.
1) Line drilling
2) Double line drilling
3) Line drilling with slotting
4) Wire sawing
139
090111 Eidsiva,
Line drilling and wire sawing.
An alternative to line drilling is wire sawing
140
090111 Eidsiva,
wire sawing.
Jointed rock, after wire sawing, will maintain the stability of the
wall very well.
141
090111, Eidsiva power station

Detail : Line-drilled wall by using 2” drill bits.
142
In some cases, double line drilling

and bolting has to be done before
the blasting along the wall can start.
143
000001 Hollow for a garage

The rock outside the walls on both sides should not be
disturbed.
Creating a weakness zone along the wall by sawing with a wire saw
144

Creating a weakness zone along the wall
by sawing with a wire saw
The horizontal and vertical holes for blowing through the saw wire are
drilled, the wire
is through, the
sawing has
started.
145

Creating a weakness zone along
the wall by sawing with wire saw
The split is sawed, the rock bolts are installed, the blasting for creating
the hollow can start.
146

Creating a weakness zone along
the wall by sawing with wire saw
000004 The walls are sawed out, the rock is blasted out, the hollow is
finished.
147
148
149
The End
150

Blasting Close To Existing Structures

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Blasting Close To Existing Structures

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European Shotfirer Standard Education For Enhanced Mobility – ESSEEM –

EFEE made the basic training manual for

The ESSEEM project was carried out through the years

European Shotfirer Standard

The training material prepared by the ESSEEM project included

NFF working group:

NFF : Jan Kristiansen Karl Kure

The Working Group has taken into account the comments

Blasting close to existing structures

Author : Karl Kure, Norway

Blasting parameters 15 min

The problems by blasting close to existing

• by means of practical examples taken from projects where

• by showing practical methods from difficult projects where blasting

The risk for blasting damage in build-up

- the distance from the blast round to the structure

- the size of the charges detonating at each time interval

• Different borehole diameters are in use, however

By the use of small charges, which often has to be divided into

In most European countries hundreds of

In the nordic countries we can hardly not build a flat, a one

A few of this hundreds of blast rounds tend to go wrong.

We will show you some damage examples and discuss the

Different reasons for blasting damage :

Type 2.1 When the charges breack into

Type 2.2 When the rock mass moves

Type 2.3 When an overloaded blast round

980226 Flyrock thrown towards

Type 2.1 When the charges break into

This may happen :

b) By using largeer charges (artridges up to 40 mm)

Example 1 : New warehouse

Type 2.1 Example 1 :

Type 2.1 Example 1 :

A new warehouse close to an existing building was planned.

Type 2.1, Example 1 :

The rock was layered at the site.

Holes were drilled and some grouted bolts were installed.

A row of contour holes (60 cm spacing) was drilled and blasted

980918-1 New warehouse.

The concrete wall was exposed for high vibration

980918-2 New warehouse.

The crack in the outside brick wall was 7 cm wide.

980918-3 New warehouse.

The reasons for the damage :

1) The vertical stress in the foundation was not released before

2) There was inadequate rock bolting.

3) The charge size was too large.

Type 2.1, Example 2 : 020114

The rock at the site is horizontally layered.

020114-1 Trenching close to a wall.

020114-2 Trenching close to a wall.

020114-3 Trenching close to a wall.

The crack in the unreinforced basement wall ran

The reasons for the damage :

1) The blast holes were drilled to close to the wall.

2) No gas evacuation holes were drilled (no line drilling).

3) The gas pressure followed the horizontal cracks under

Type 2.2 When the rock mass moves

This may happen when:

Example 1 : Rock movement due to trenching

Example 2 : Rock movement as a result of heavy

000224-2 Rock movement due to trenching