Noise is all around us. It could be the passing police siren or airplane passing overhead. It could be the sound our partner snoring at night. It could be a lot of things. But one of the most noisome sounds is that of a construction site. By using the heavy equipment necessary to work the construction site, there are also vibrations which are directly caused by the site’s activity. These vibrations can lead to costly damage to property in the surrounding area. There are a number of regulatory commissions which work to protect the public against these dangers. That’s where noise and vibration monitoring come in to play. Many times, it is a requirement of compliance to the jurisdiction’s sound and noise ordinances. Vibration monitoring is not only important for compliance but also for the safety of the site workers and the surrounding members of the public.
It is an even bigger concern when construction sites are near the following:
- Schools
- Hospitals
- Retirement Homes
- Retirement Communities
- Protected Lands
Bothersome noise can make it difficult to concentrate for nearby businesses, as well as, schools. It can also prolong recovery for patients under post-surgical care at hospitals and clinics. For those at-risk populations living in retirement settings, it can result in a variety of health problems. It should be noted that animals in the wild can be affected by loud noise too. It can affect their breeding and hunting patterns among other issues.
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Why Should Excessive Noise be Monitored?
It isn’t just that unwanted noise can be bothersome. It can also be dangerous. Constant exposure to high noise levels can cause a wide range of health problems including:
- Hearing Loss
- Sleeping Difficulty
- Anxiety
- Heart Disease
- High Blood Pressure
- Stress
- Fatigue
It should be noted that while the health problems listed above are for people near the loud noise, excessive sound can also cause problems for structures too. Continual vibrations can loosen joints and cause structural problems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has cited the global increase in noise levels in every day communities poses a serious public health concern. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has agreed along with offering the above health conditions as a result of continued exposure to high noise levels.
Monitoring Construction Noise
It is best, when monitoring construction noise to use the following tips to provide the best analysis available:
- Set Specific Site Objectives
- Make a Construction Site Survey
- Choose Appropriate Equipment Locations
- Define Collected data
- Use the Appropriate Equipment to Gather Data
Set Specific Site Objectives
For a successful noise and vibration analysis to occur, it is important to have a well-defined set of site objectives. Without them, the nature of the analysis will be very general. For instance, if the construction site is concerned with noise coming from planes taking off from a nearby airport, then analyzing the sounds of bullfrogs in a nearby marsh is not as important or as impactful.
Site objectives help to narrow the scope and refine the focus on what noise and vibrations are important to address and which are not.
Construction Site Survey
Our noise monitoring services always start with a site survey. Without the survey, the noise, and vibration monitoring starts blind, which is never a good thing. The survey includes taking note of the following:
- Railways
- Other Construction Sites
- Roadways
- Homes
- Buildings
- Airports
- Environmental Considerations
It is always best to employ vibration monitoring services prior to the start of construction to allow for ambient vibration and noise levels to be determined. This can help determine how impactful the added construction site noise will be.
Proper Locations for Equipment
It is important to ensure all equipment is properly placed to make the readings are accurate. It is also vital to note the proximity of the noise and vibration monitoring equipment to the source of the noise and vibration. This will help to provide valuable insight when analyzing the data.
It is important to keep in mind these things for monitoring equipment:
- Power Location for Instruments and Equipment
- Ease of Access to Equipment Monitoring Location
- Appropriate Location for Microphone Setup
- Make Note of Surrounding Structures Which Might Alter Findings
Define Collected Data
It is vital to know when and how data should be collected. If there is a great deal of noise around shift changes or when shipments arrive then that should be one of the focuses for the noise analysis. However, if those are not noisy time periods, then perhaps they wouldn’t be the focus. How frequently data is gathered should be noted too. If it is important to look at which hours of the day are the noisiest, then the data should be checked every hour for fluctuations. If early Mondays are typically when new materials arrive and the offloading is noisy and causes a great deal of vibration then it should be part of the focus.
Final Thoughts
Noise is all around us as part of our world. Many times, we grow so accustomed to it, we don’t realize we’ve normalized the noise, until it disappears and we wonder where it went. It is important, not just for our health, but for the health of our wildlife that we do our best to address noisy environments. One of those is construction sites. Contact us today for a noise assessment. We are your noise specialists.
