COMPARISON OF GROUND MOTION FROM INDUSTRY AND BARGE TRAFFIC AT THE CHICAGO SANITARY AND SHIP CANAL TO VIBRATIONS FROM THE ASIAN CARP WATER GUN

The seismic water gun is a potential method of controlling Asian carp in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and other waterways. However, the energy released from water gun use may negatively impact the canal walls and/or submerged electric fish barrier (EFB) equipment. To determine the relative energy outputs of the water gun relative to other energy sources, such as barge traffic and industrial background noise, seismic ground velocity was measured from each source. Two water guns (343 and 80 cubic inch piston) were shot at various locations within the canal near Lemont, Illinois, during experiments in 2011 and 2014. Pressure data was collected from hydrophones in the canal and ground motions were monitored with 3-component geophones on the land surface, and in boreholes, at 0, 1.5, 10.7, and 30.5 m (0, 5, 35, and 100 ft) from the canal wall. Background noise from barges, miscellaneous pleasure boats, industrial operations, traffic and railways were collected before, during and after the water gun testing. Data for barge traffic and industrial noise were collected at either 1 ms sampling interval for 60 s or a 16 ms sampling interval for 260 s (4.33 minutes). Industrial background seismic data was collected at a coal-fueled power plant approximately 300 m (1,000 feet) downstream of the EFB. Seismic data was also collected from freight trains and vehicles passing near the EFB.

Passing barges at the Lemont site produced a peak particle velocity (PPV) of around 0.25 mm/s (0.01 in/s), although the seismic recording instruments may have been saturated, and thus velocities could be somewhat higher. The coal-fired power plant industrial noise produced maximum ground motion of 0.07 mm/s (0.0028 in/s). Ground motion from railroad and vehicle noise near the EFB was approximately 0.0066 mm/s (0.000258 in/s). These values are 10-1000 times smaller than the maximum ground velocities measured during firing of the Asian carp water gun with a PPV of 4.3 mm/s (0.17 in/s) or vector-sum velocity of 7.2 mm/s (0.28 in/s).