VCE Project of the Month 11/2026. Measurement data for vibration mitigation. For the southward extension of Vienna’s U2 underground line, VCE is investigating how vibrations propagate from the tunnel to neighbouring buildings.
On behalf of Wiener Linien, the company is verifying the basis of the vibration predictions for construction contract U2/17. The measurement results provide the basis for vibration mitigation measures within the track structure and the subsequent design of the turnout areas at the Matzleinsdorfer Platz turnback and stabling facility.
Investigating vibration transmission from tunnel to building
Understanding how vibrations are transmitted from the tunnel to neighbouring buildings is essential to vibration mitigation in underground railway construction. VCE is investigating this relationship at the tunnel shell stage. Verification measurements are used to check the transfer functions used in the vibration prediction model against measured data.
The focus is therefore on the transmission path between the tunnel and the surrounding buildings. The measurements capture the response to the applied impulses at different monitoring points. This provides a basis for specifying mitigation measures within the track structure.
Controlled impulses and simultaneous measurements
For this investigation, the instrumentation team uses a dynamic probing rig to apply controlled impulses to the tunnel shell. Triaxial vibration velocity transducers simultaneously record the vibration response within the tunnel and at monitoring points on buildings close to ground level.
Frequency-dependent transfer functions are derived from the recorded signals. These describe how vibrations are transmitted from the tunnel to the monitoring points on the buildings across different frequency ranges. This allows the predictions to be checked against the actual conditions measured on site. The measurement campaigns were carried out in 2024 and 2026.
Measurement results as the basis for trackform design
The verification measurements provide the basis for specifying vibration mitigation measures within the track structure in the form of mass–spring systems. These systems reduce vibration transmission. The measurement data therefore inform decisions on the trackform required to mitigate vibrations.
In the next stage, VCE’s railway engineering team will design the trackforms for the turnout areas within the Matzleinsdorfer Platz turnback and stabling facility. This design work is scheduled for completion over the coming months.
Instrumentation and railway engineering working together
A distinctive feature of the project is the integration of measurement-based verification with subsequent design, delivered jointly by our Competence Centres for Acoustics, Structural Dynamics, Building Physics & Instrumentation and Railway Engineering, together with VCE Romania. The results obtained at the tunnel shell stage provide the basis for specifying mitigation measures and progressing the design of the turnout areas. VCE thus combines the investigation of vibration propagation with trackform design in a coordinated, sequential process.