Julia -
I can't answer all your questions but you are very right to be
concerned.  Here at Stonefield our site has two main lines of  the
Northern Burlington Railroad on it  with 30-40 frieght trains a day and
even our buildings that are two hundred yards from the tracks experience
vibrations.  At a few feet you would definitely notice it.  Here the
trains run at top speed by the site and slower speeds do effect the
vibrations more than the wieght although its important also.  Here I
have begun lining all the shelves in storage with ethafoam to lower
vibration problems.  We have not had to put lips on our shelves but have
considered it if we found a real problem area.  My biggest problem is in
the non-storage areas (open air museum with 49 structures) where I can
not pad the shelves.  Our staff keeps a regular eye on all objects
during the season and items in great danger are removed during the
winter months.

Good Luck with your Work.
Tracie

Julia Merkel wrote:

> Can anyone comment or have recommendations for stabilizing storage in
> collections for vibrations?  The art collection here may be moved into
> temporary
> quarters (if 2-10yrs is temporary)
> in a one story slab brick building a few feet from a railroad track.
> I think the track averages one large freight train per day.  The former
> occupants of the building (a pharmacy) tell me that they don't remember
> anything falling off the shelves, but that it sure felt like the train
> was
> coming right through the door.
> Other than ethafoam padding, are there suppliers for "quake proof"
> shelving?
> Special hardware for anchoring paintings?  I seem to remember hearing
> about
> a "floating" system for museum storage in earthquake zones...
> Would building a platform above the slab absorb some of the tremors?
> Are there vibration tests I should request be done before a decision is
> finalized?
> Thanks a million,
> Julia Merkel
>
>
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