Cissell Investigative Engineering LLC grew out of a design firm with many years of experience in design and construction.  The principal had worked for a number of years with a major engineering firm with significant responsibility at a nuclear power construction project during the startup phase of construction.  Years of experience provided the fundamental background needed to understand the dynamics of design and construction.  While it is impractical to expect perfection, there is a duty to provide quality workmanship and expertise.

Earthquakes and Vibrations

The most common complaint CIE services is from construction activities.  These claims are also the most delicate.  Most persons submitting a claim due to construction activities or blasting have felt a shake.  Humans are quite sensitive to vibrations and detect a vibration at thresholds less than 10% of the value where threshold damage may occur.  Previously undiscovered defects are claimed and CIE sorts through the claims, analyses the patterns against our research, and assesses the potential validity.  When records are made available we’re able to calculate the potential for defects to occur.

Obtaining records from the blasting company and interpreting the results is often a contentious effort and before we attempt to obtain this information, we qualify the damage that is observed.  We examine the patterns of damage and compare that to scores of previous investigations and research to assess the potential.  Most of the time we are able to determine the cracks are related to other causes.  We frequently suggest some simple fixes to reduce the cause of cracks.

Complex cases, particularly with multi-family or commercial/industrial building impacts require that we validate the seismic readings.  CIE has experts with extensive experience with vibrations, blasting and construction to provide subrogation, and defense support when justified.