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Seismic Measurements Of Ground Displacements At The Superconducting Super Collider Site
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 7th EEGS Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, Mar 1994, cp-208-00020
Abstract
In November 1993 the United States Congress ordered the Department of Energy to halt<br>construction on the muti-billion dollar superconducting super collider (SSC) which was being built<br>in the state of Texas. The SSC is an oval shaped ring, which is 53 miles in circumference. The ring<br>is centered upon the town of Waxahachie, which is located approximately 30 miles south of Dallas<br>A design limit of the SSC is that the ground vibrations must be less than 5.0 x 10e4 inches. As part<br>of a preliminary site investigation, the Department of Geophysics at Texas A&M University was<br>contracted by the State of Texas to measure near surface ground displacements at the proposed<br>SSC site. Seismic measurements of ground velocity were made, both at the surface and within<br>boreholes, at several sites within the survey area Through a series of data processing steps the<br>ground velocity measurements were transformed into ground displacements. Results from this<br>study show that the primary sources of ground vibrations in the area are blasts at a nearby quarry<br>and vibrations caused by trains at railroad crossings. Both of these noise sources posed potential<br>problems which would have to be addressed in the construction of the SSC.