Generation of a Building Typology for Risk Assessment due to Urban Tunnelling

Major underground infrastructure projects are often located beneath dense urban environments in an effort to relieve congested areas. The effects of urban tunnelling works can impinge on hundreds, if not thousands of structures, many of which a re historically significant. Tunnel-induced ground movements can result in significant building damage and, therefore, require an accurate risk assessment of the existing built heritage and the selection of appropriate preventative measures. Damage prediction techniques extend from traditional empirical and analytical methods to modern computational modelling techniques. A common requirement for many damage assessment methodologies is the development of a building typology. Such typologies can provide critical information where measured drawings, particularly of structural elements (e.g. floor and wall thickness), are not otherwise available. This study begins to establish a building typology for a historic area of Dublin's city centre for which an underground railway system has been planned.