Dublin's building stock is a palimpsest of over a thousand years of construction, from Viking wattle to Georgian brick and modern glass towers. Each era placed foundations on the city's complex glacial drift without the seismic knowledge we apply today. Though Ireland sits on a stable intraplate region, the adoption of Eurocode 8 requires seismic site classification for critical structures. Brighter winds and tighter deadlines push the building industry forward. We measure shear wave velocity directly with MASW techniques on sites from the Liffey quays to the M50 corridor. This gives engineers the VS30 value needed to confirm ground type and spectral response. In our experience, Dublin's boulder clay over limestone bedrock creates sharp velocity contrasts that only a continuous MASW profile can capture properly, especially when paired with seismic refraction for bedrock topography.
VS30 is not just a number for a report cover. It defines the entire seismic coefficient used in foundation design.
