Construction Noise—Its Origin and Effects

Construction projects produce serious environmental pollution and great annoyance to the neighbouring community due to construction noise. This paper presents an application of the special purpose simulation (SPS) language using Simphony software to predict the noise levels generated by construction equipment, tools and machinery at a given reception point for a certain barrier length, as well as the related cost of the barrier wall. To illustrate an application of the developed model, an example has been developed for different noise sources and different activities. The information obtained from the simulation model output will help to utilize the model as a planning tool for optimizing the length and location of noise barriers around a construction site. The tool can be useful for a contractor to develop a noise-control plan using mitigation measures that are acceptable to the owner.

The construction noise Is one of the main causes of environmental impact. The complaints about it have been increasing every year. In order to reduce construction machinery noise, the product noise labeling for construction machinery has been recommended since 1 February 1996 and In the near future the government will convert the recommended product noise labeling to the mandatory product noise labeling for high noise construction machinery. Therefore, we investigated the noise and vibration level of 302 construction machines in construction work sites. This paper presents the basic data that will be used for setting the standard of construction machinery noise and predicting the noise level near construction work sites in environmental Impact assessment.

Noise pollution is the world’s one of the dangerous pollution nowadays, noise pollution is created by daily basis’s, sources of generation of noise pollution are household appliances, different vehicles sounds, construction equipment at side work, different transportation like railway, airway, roadways, waterways etc. This affects human body by causing different diseases. Noise health effects are the physical and psychological. Health consequences of regular exposure to consistent elevated sound levels. High-rise building construction or environmental noise can cause permanently hearing loss, audiology and hearing, hypertension, heart disease, annoyance, and sleep nuisances.

A model developed by the Washington State Department of Transportation to be used by biologists to determine the action area for highway construction projects is presented. The model conservatively estimates the distance at which construction noise would match ambient background sound levels. The model propagates the combined maximum sound level (Lmax) for project construction equipment spherically over the soft and hard site characteristics to a point where it would converge with the ambient hourly equivalent (Leq) sound level. The ambient Leq sound level can be input into the model from actual measurements, documented reference sources, or from a table based on population density [Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Noise Assessment Guidance (2006)]. The model then combines the ambient sound level with the traffic sound level based on the national mean emission curves. The input for traffic volume, vehicle type, and speed is propagated cylindrically from the source until the traffic source drops to the ambient level. A macro, that applies a general atmospheric and molecular absorption adjustment to the calculated distances, produces the action area circumference both graphically and numerically as it relates to each of the sound sources. [Work supported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) (1978).]

The United States construction industry experienced 151 fatalities resulting from workers colliding with objects and equipment in 2009. These fatalities accounted for approximately 18% of the total construction fatalities and 3% of the total workplace fatalities experienced that year. Construction workers and equipment are often required to function at close proximity on construction jobsites. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of emerging radio frequency (RF) remote sensing technology that can promote safety in construction by providing real-time alerts for worker-on-foot and construction equipment operators when a potentially hazardous proximity situation exists. Numerous experiments designed to emulate typical interactions between workers-on-foot and construction equipment, including installing proximity sensing devices on actual construction equipment, were used to evaluate the proximity sensing technology. Results from the experiments indicate that real-time pro-active proximity sensing and warning technology can promote safety on construction jobsites.

The U.S. Bioeconomy: Charting a Course for a Resilient and Competitive Future

The construction equipment is one of the major sources for hazardous air pollutants in Korea, and the its management has been of great concern recently. The objective of this study was to estimate each contribution of emission of construction equipments according to their production year, electric power consumption and type. To achieve this goal, we developed pollutant emission factors for the machineries manufactured after 2009, which are excluded from the present framework of Korean air pollutants inventory, CAPSS. More than 800 data obtained from emission investigations were utilized for the estimation. Compared with the previous estimation, the scheme used this study was modified to incorporate new emission factors as well as to include the corresponding activity data. Such improvement allow us to gain more detailed emission informations which are better characterized by specifications of construction equipments. The total amount of pollutants emitted from construction equipments in 2011 were estimated as 126.8, 7.0, 58.3, and 17.0 kton for NOx, PM, CO, and VOC, respectively. The estimation results indicate that the increase in the emission of equipments is significantly related to their age and power consumption. The emissions of the older ones manufactured from 1992~1996 were estimated to be the contribution ranged from 23.7% to 26.8%, whereas the newer ones (2009~2011) showed the attributions of 11.3~21.5%. In addition, the results show that the emission of each equipment was increased with the increase in the electric power consumption of engine, probably due to their average output power. Among the nine types of machinery compared, excava*Corresponding author. Tel : +82-(0)32-560-7609, E-mail : taewoolee@korea.kr 기술자료 J. KOSAE Vol. 30, No. 6 (2014)

This paper discusses how advanced tracking and monitoring technologies can be used to increase safety for construction activities at airports. Airport construction is a significant infrastructure sector and in 2020 the Airport Improvement Program funded $300 million for airport projects in the United States. This includes funding for pavement reconstruction, airfield upgrades to meet current standards (e.g., wider runways), the construction of new terminal facilities, and additional capacity (e.g., new runways). The airfield environment presents special hazards for constructors, including proximity to active aircraft operations, and the requirement to comply with many additional rules such as those required by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Transportation Security Agency (TSA); many of these rules are required to ensure safety and security. Airport construction activities require close oversight, additional inspections by airport operations personnel, and stringent rules regarding access and operation in different areas of the airfield. Access and operating requirements affect both construction workers and construction equipment, and there are often different rules for different areas at the airport. One of the most restricted areas on an airport is the runway. Access to the runway and the safety area around a runway requires explicit permission from Air Traffic Control (ATC). If a vehicle or pedestrian (or aircraft) crosses the boundary without permission, it is considered a runway incursion. A runway incursion could cause a major incident at the airport and could result in injuries and fatalities. Runway incursion events are recorded by the FAA and represent a serious safety violation for the airport. Runway incursions and the technology to prevent incursions are discussed as an example that illustrates the need for and benefits of accurate monitoring of construction equipment and personnel. Technologies that may be used to enhance tracking and support situational awareness are present to illustrate the possible ways that enhanced monitoring can be used at an airport. Solutions may include the use of advanced technologies such as real-time vehicle location sensors, which may be combined with robust electronic maps to enhance safety for construction equipment and personnel location in the airfield environment. A discussion of opportunities and challenges of these systems is detailed.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Recent legislation, including the California Clean Air Act of 1988 and the Federal Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990, includes off-road engines, equipment, and vehicles as targets for new exhaust emissions regulations. The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District in cooperation with EXXON USA is conducting a major Low NO<sub>x</sub> Demonstration Program including mobile sources, construction equipment, and offshore equipment. As a part of this program, an existing backhoe has been retrofitted with a low NO<sub>x</sub> engine and demonstrated in the field.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper discusses the work performed to allow Case model 580 backhoes to be retrofitted with Cummins 4BTAA3.9 on-highway turbocharged diesel engines. A standard production conversion kit can be used to mount the new engines in place of the older existing JI Case engines in some models while other newer models already have 4B3.9 engines. In addition, an air-to-air aftercooler and associated plumbing was designed and installed. The air handling and exhaust systems were redesigned for the turbocharger.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">The engine was emissions tested following the California 8-mode test cycle in two configurations. The first test was with the engine in its automotive configuration with a rating of 62 kW at 2500 rpm. The second test was in the backhoe configuration with a rating of 51 kW at 2100 rpm. NO<sub>x</sub> emissions were higher with the lower speed and power rating.</div>

Long-Term U.S. Productivity Growth and Mobile Broadband: The Road Ahead

Road traffic, aircraft, waste trucks, construction equipment, and industrial facilities are just a few important noise sources that pollute the environment and affect human health. Considering that noise pollution is increasing due to urbanization and more traffic vehicles on roads, solving this problem is necessary. Optimization of total noise emissions in Belgrade (Serbia) was done since noise has always been a source of pollution. This paper presents the use of GIS to establish a multi-factor assessment model to divide infected grids and select control sites, along with the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method, IDW (Inverse Distance Weighting) interpolation technique, zonal GIS (Geographic Information System) statistics, and noise optimization in the investigated area. The analysis was based on noise data recorded (Lden - the average noise level over a 24-hour period) values in spring and autumn measuring cycles at 34 measuring points in 11 Belgrade municipalities in 2023. The results showed that noise emission in some control sites requires more than 25% reduction. The improvement of the environment is required to control the background of noise pollution in Belgrade.

ABSTRACTThere have been many previous noise-related studies on liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the United States; however, noise control of these facilities using a top-down approach has not been explored in detail. Most studies have demonstrated noise compliance to applicable standards by focusing on a combination of treatments and specifications, with less consideration on control technology feasibility, ranking, and cost-effectiveness. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) prohibits natural gas facilities from emitting day-night noise levels in excess of 55 dB(A) (equivalent to 24-hr continuous level of 49 dB(A)) at nearby receivers. A case study was conducted to evaluate a top-down approach to reduce noise at a typical LNG peak-shaving facility under normal operating conditions, accounting for technical feasibility, control effectiveness, and cost implications. A modeling approach (International Organization for Standardization standard ISO 9613-2) was used to predict and evaluate the facility’s noise reduction potential. The study found that the strategy could achieve feasible and environmentally effective reductions up to 11 dB(A) at 500 m from the facility by first identifying source groups with highest-emitting sources and then targeting major noise source contributors per group. This approach is cost-effective because the FERC noise goals can still be achieved by avoiding unnecessary control costs associated with lower-ranked sources. The study identified the following four source groups as the highest noise emitters: (1) liquefaction and instrument air, (2) boil-off gas (BOG) compression, (3) glycol water system (air coolers), and (4) pretreatment. Of all the treatments evaluated, installation of enhanced silencers for gas turbine (GT) package—as well as construction of an acoustical building for the BOG compressors and drivers—resulted in the greatest noise reduction at nearby receivers. The study notes that incremental treatment costs presented in this paper are approximate estimates that may vary depending on factors such as facility size and region.Implications: This study assessed potential noise reductions associated with implementing a top–down noise control strategy on a typical LNG peak-shaving facility. The study determined the top–down noise control strategy could achieve feasible and environmentally effective reductions up to 11 decibels at receivers within 500 m from the facility’s center. As LNG suppliers need to support potential supply disruptions, some regions of the US, including New England and Gulf Coast with projected increase in LNG exports and growing needs from power sector, may find information in this study useful with regard to evaluating and prioritizing noise reduction potential of their LNG peak-shaving facilities.

(1) To present hearing threshold data from a recent nationally representative survey in the United States (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004) in a distributional format that might be appropriate to replace Annex B in international (ISO-1999) and national (ANSI S3.44) standards and (2) to compare these recent data with older survey data (National Health Examination Survey I, 1959-1962) on which the current Annex B is based. Better-ear threshold distributions (selected percentiles and their confidence intervals) were estimated using linear interpolation. The 95% confidence intervals for the medians for the two surveys were compared graphically for each of the four age groups and for both men and women. In addition, we calculated odds ratios comparing the prevalences of better-ear hearing impairment (thresholds > 25 dB HL) between the two surveys, for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, and for their four-frequency average. Across age and sex groups, median thresholds were lower (better) in the 1999-2004 survey at 500, 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz (8000 Hz was not tested in the 1959-1962 survey). For both men and women, the prevalence of hearing impairment was significantly lower in 1999-2004 at 500, 2000, and 4000 Hz, but not at 1000 Hz. For men and women of a specific age, high-frequency hearing thresholds were lower (better) in 1999-2004 than in 1959-1962. The prevalences of hearing impairment were also lower in the recent survey. Differences seen at 500 Hz may be attributable at least in part to changes in standards for ambient noise in audiometry. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 distributions are offered as a possible replacement for Annex B in ISO-1999 and ANSI S3.44.

To conduct an assessment of rural environmental pollution sources and associated population mortality rates. The design is a secondary analysis of county-level data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture, National Land Cover Dataset, Energy Information Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Census, and others. We described the types of pollution sources present in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties and examined the associations between these sources and rates of all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, and cancer mortality while controlling for age, race, and other covariates. Rural counties had 65,055 EPA-monitored pollution discharge sites. As expected, rural counties had significantly greater exposure to potential agriculture-related pollution. Regression models specific to rural counties indicated that greater density of water pollution sources was significantly associated with greater total and cancer mortality. Rural air pollution sources were associated with greater cancer mortality rates. Rural coal mining areas had higher total, cancer, and respiratory disease mortality rates. Agricultural production was generally associated with lower mortality rates. Greater levels of human development were significantly related to higher adjusted total and cancer mortality. The association between pollution sources and mortality risk is not a phenomenon limited to metropolitan areas. Results carry policy implications regarding the need for effective environmental standards and monitoring. Further research is needed to better understand the types and distributions of pollution in rural areas, and the health consequences that result.

Paved surfaces are quite possibly the most ubiquitous structures created by humans. In the United States alone, pavements and other impervious surfaces cover more than 43,000 square miles—an area nearly the size of Ohio—according to research published in the 15 June 2004 issue of Eos, the newsletter of the American Geophysical Union. Bruce Ferguson, director of the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design and author of the 2005 book Porous Pavements, says that a quarter of a million U.S. acres are either paved or repaved every year. Impervious surfaces can be concrete or asphalt, they can be roofs or parking lots, but they all have at least one thing in common—water runs off of them, not through them. And with that runoff comes a host of problems.