Blast Vibration Prediction, Monitoring and Control When explosive charges detonate in rock, nearly all of the available energy is used in breaking and displacing the rockmass. However, a portion of the energy is released in the form of vibration waves, which radiate away from the detonation point. These waves can be characterized as surface or body shear and compressive waves. When these strain-waves pass through rock or earth, they cause an oscillating motion in the ground particles. Ground vibration outside of the crater zone occurs as elastic motion, meaning that the ground particles move as the wave passes and quickly come to rest exactly as they were before the waves arrived. In some cases, usually when the intensity of vibration is high, the acceleration of elastic ground motion can cause permanent ground displacement and damage. Blast Dynamics, Inc. specializes in developing site-specific blast designs to limit the adverse effects of ground and air vibration. Our approach is to identify the structure or structures of concern, determine the safe vibration level, select the appropriate equipment to accurately measure the vibration levels, develop a series of test blasts to quantify the vibration characteristics of the site, devise initial blast designs based on the desired level and site conditions, implement a vibration monitoring program, evaluate the information provided by the monitoring and, if required, refine the initial blast designs. With this approach, we minimize the potential for vibration induced damage and make sure that you have the proper blast documentation if it is required in the future.