Vibration monitoring to protect industrial machines during nearby construction
When Graham Construction built student accommodation beside Grant Westfield’s waterproof panel factory, Xi Engineering Consultants provided independent vibration monitoring to protect a sensitive production machine and keep the project moving.
The Challenge
Graham Construction’s site for new student accommodation sat immediately next to Grant Westfield, whose production facility included a vibration sensitive machine critical to output and quality. The factory was concerned that piling, excavation and other heavy works might impair machine performance or cause damage, while Graham needed to avoid unnecessary constraints or stoppages driven by perceived rather than measured risk. Both parties required an independent, objective way to track vibration at the machine, distinguish construction effects from normal factory activity and trigger timely interventions only when necessary.
Our Approach
Xi installed multiple vibration monitors at carefully chosen locations across the Grant Westfield factory, including on and near the sensitive production machine. The monitors continuously recorded vibration during Graham Construction’s works and fed data to a cloud platform that Xi engineers could review remotely. Alarm thresholds were set so that if vibration at the machine exceeded agreed levels, automatic notifications went to Graham Construction, allowing site activities to be adjusted immediately. Throughout the project Xi maintained the equipment, produced installation and weekly reports, analysed trends in the data and distinguished construction induced events from normal factory operations, giving both parties a clear, shared view of what was happening.
The Results
Why it matters
Urban and brownfield developments increasingly take place alongside live industrial operations. Without proper monitoring, either the neighbour’s equipment is put at risk or construction is hamstrung by overly cautious restrictions. Xi’s vibration monitoring service bridges this gap, providing independent evidence, clear alarm criteria and practical advice so that sensitive machines remain protected while projects keep moving. The same approach can be applied wherever construction interfaces with manufacturing, laboratories or critical infrastructure.