BULETINUL INSTITUTULUI POLITEHNIC DIN IAŞI Publicat de Universitatea Tehnică „Gheorghe Asachi” din Iaşi Tomul LXI (LXV), Fasc. 4, 2015 Secţia CONSTRUCŢII. ARHITECTURĂ STUDY ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF RAILWAYS UPON THE BUILDINGS IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD BY RALUCA NERIŞANU * and DELIA DRĂGAN Technical University of Cluj-Napoca Faculty of Civil Engineering Received: December 10, 2015 Accepted for publication: December 28, 2015 Abstract. This paper aims to present the influence of the railway traffic upon the constructions placed in the neighbourhood of the railroads. The railway vehicles produce powerful and high intensity vibrations. Through the soil, the vibrations are transmitted to the foundations of nearby buildings. This can have consequences, such as settlements and cracks occurrence, even building collapse. The way such vibrations affect the buildings depends upon the distance at which constructions are placed, the traffic speed of the rolling material, the axle load, the state of the railway, the kind of soil and, last, but not least, the type of the foundation. The paper consists from a theoretical part dealing with characteristics of vibratory motion and where the vibrations of the rolling stock moving on joint track are shown, and a practical part where the results of the measurements are presented (regarding acceleration, speed, displacement, frequency) to highlight the detrimental effects of vibrations produced by the rolling stock in motion upon the buildings in the neighbourhood of the railways. Relevant photos are also given. Key words: vibration; surface waves; cross waves; rolling stock; building. 1. Introduction In order to maintain railway transportation, as a high level transportation means, it is necessary to have higher and higher speed and to * Corresponding author: e-mail: Raluca.Nerisanu@cfdp.utcluj.ro