Blasting Standards

1. Law
2. Tennessee Code
3. Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
4. Tennessee Blasting Standards Act of 1975
5. Blasting Standards

1. In all blasting operations, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the maximum ground vibration at any dwelling, public building, school, church, or commercial or institutional building normally occupied adjacent to the blasting site shall not exceed the limitations specified in the following table:

   TABLE 1 PEAK PARTICLE VELOCITY LIMITSDistance from blasting site  Maximum allowable peak

   particle velocity1

   0 to 300 ft (91.4 m) 1.25 in/sec (31.75 mm/sec)

   301 to 5000 ft (91.5 m to 1524 m) 1.00 in/sec (25.4 mm/sec)

   5001 ft (1525 m) and beyond 0.75 in/sec (19 mm/sec)

   1 Peak particle velocity must be measured in three mutually perpendicular directions and the maximum allowable limits shall apply to each of these measurements.

2. In lieu of Table 1, a blaster has the option to use the graph shown in Figure A to limit peak particle velocity based upon the frequency of the blast vibration.

   Click to view

3. Unless a blaster uses a seismograph to monitor a blast to ensure compliance with Table 1 or Figure A, the operation shall comply with the scaled distance equations shown in Table 2.

   TABLE 2 SCALED DISTANCE EQUATIONSDistance from Blasting  Scaled Distance Equation

   Site

   0 to 300 ft (91.4 m) Standard Table of Distance (see below)

   301 to 5000 ft (92 m to

   1524 m) W (lbs) = (d (ft)/55)2 or W (kg) = (d (m)/24.9)2

   5001 ft (1524 m) and

   beyond W (lbs) = (d (ft)/65)2 or W (kg) = (d (m)/29.4)2

   Key:

   W  = The maximum weight of explosives in pounds (or kilograms) that can be detonated per delay interval of 8 milliseconds or greater.

   d  = The distance in feet (or meters) from the blast site to the nearest dwelling, public building, school, church, commercial, or institutional building normally occupied not owned, leased, or contracted by the blasting operation, or on property where the owner has not given a written waiver to the blasting operation.

   Note : To convert English Units of scaled distances (ft/lb2) to metric units (m/kg2) divide by a factor of 2.21.

   STANDARD TABLE OF DISTANCE (0 to 300 feet (91.4 m))

   Distance in Feet Weight in Pounds

   0-10 1/8

   11-15 1/4

   16-20 1/2

   21-25 3/4

   26-30 1.00

   40   2.25

   50   3.50

   60   4.75

   70   6.00

   80   7.25

   90   8.50

   100  9.75

   110  11.00

   130  13.50

   150  16.00

   170  18.50

   190  21.00

   210  23.50

   230  26.00

   250  28.50

   270  31.00

   290  33.50

   300  34.75

4. Airblast resulting from blasting activities shall not exceed one hundred forty decibels (140dB) at the location of any dwelling, public building, school, church, or commercial or institutional building that is not owned or leased by the person engaged in the blasting operation, or on property for which the owner has not provided a written waiver to the person engaged in the blasting operation.
5. In estimating the peak particle velocity at a particular position, the following formula shall be used: (Click here to view Equation)

   where V0 is the maximum ground particle velocity at the seismograph, D0 is the distance of the seismograph from the blasting, and D is the distance from the blast to the position in question and in the same general direction. The distance D0 may not be greater than D, and D cannot be more than five (5) times D0.

6. Blasting operations at permanent sites shall be considered as being within the limits set forth in this section if at specified locations, on at least five (5) blasts, instrumentation has shown the peak particle velocity and frequency to be within the limits of Figure A. Periodic seismic monitoring shall be employed to ensure compliance with applicable law.

Download our app to see the most-to-date content.