It is commonly defined as it is the sound that is not liked by the receiver. The assessment of noise impact is an important component of Environmental impact assessment. The primary goal of noise impact assessment is to assess the current noise quality assessments of areas of study, the impact of future developments on noise in the local area, its impacts and its acceptability.
Noise Pollution Sources
The impact of noise is usually ascended from
Vehicles
Trains
Ships
Construction sites (including the vehicles and equipment movement)
the river’s depth is increasing
borrowing
Airplanes
Other Fixed Noise Sources like, Malls, Parking lots, bus depot, etc.
Noise Sensitive Zones
The areas that are susceptible to noise sensitive that can be affected by the high levels of noise.
Residence Areas: All residential housing areas
Institutional Spaces: Schools, libraries and hospitals, colleges clinics public workshops, theatres, and more.
Other areas include hostels, gardens, etc.
Noise-Resistant Areas
Noise-tolerant zones where a certain amount of noise is tolerated due to small population density.
Multi-floor Car parking lots
Malls
Corporate office with noise insulation
Godown
Commercial and Community centres as well as Communities
Noise Impact Assessment Planning
A lot of industrial or residential areas require noise impact reports to be completed for projects in the design phase. This ensures that adequate protection of the future residents to reduce the noise impact. The noise impact assessment plan can also minimize other negative impact on health and quality of life that are a result of new developments.
Noise Impact Assessment Guidelines
Here are the noise impact assessment guidelines that must be adhered to in the ideal situation. In reality, some or all of the steps could be combined based on the nature of the project.
Establish the project requirements and the Noise issue
When completing this process it is crucial to determine the current and potential land usage around the proposed site. There are other factors be considered that will create noise disturbance during the construction process and in operation. The length of time that the impact will occur as well as the timing of day, night evening, week, and so on. and traffic noise in the construction zones due to more traffic and vehicles on nearby roads.
Set a Baseline for assessment of noise impact
After completing the previous step, Noise consultants must have a an understanding of the potential impacts on residents. In this stage, they will give current noise levels for their surroundings. The goal of the baseline survey is to pinpoint the areas that are the most susceptible and most likely to be negatively affected by the proposed development project.
Assess the noise level impact on the proposed development
After completing the previous steps the role of a Noise consultant is to determine the impact of noise for the planned development. It’s very difficult to determine the impact of noise in the early stages. Noise consultants play crucial parts in forecasting noise, far beyond the limits of software, based on their expertise and experience.
Consider options to reduce noise
In this stage of noise impact assessment planning, the noise consultants examine the source of noise in the development area. They offer solutions to reduce the noise at the source and relocating the receiver’s source to reduce noise impact or installing noise barriers to lessen the noise’s impact at the sources.
Evaluation and evaluation of the significance of every mitigation strategy
When the options for assessment of noise impacts is determined, then the proposer will create an outline of alternatives available to compare the noise impact, cost effectiveness and feasibility. The best option is chosen following a discussion with the committee members that meet all the criteria for noise limit.
Find the best solution for noise control
In this stage, you evaluate alternatives to reduce noise impacts to put them according to ranking, taking into consideration socio-economic aspects and the the most competitive and innovative options are chosen to move on in the Noise impact assessment planning stage.
Noise Impact Assessment Survey Methods
Initial Process
In this method, all noise sensitive receptors together with their the distance from the noise source, the magnitude of noise levels generated by the noise source, and noise level as well as noise level after the site is completed are identified.
Quantitative Noise Impact Assessment
For this Process Quantitative assessment it depends on the type of development. i.e Noise generating development or Noise sensitive development.
The principal goal of this process is to determine the impact on the development
Qualitative Noise Impact Assessment
In this process, more specific and with additional elements considered for Quantitative Study of Noise Impact Assessment. For eg. If a new development that generates noise is planned , its effect on existing receptors is investigated. If the construction of new hospitals or homes i.e. projects that are sensitive to noise are being planned, the current levels of noise are studied to assess the potential effects on the development.
The effects of noise on residential homes is taken into account for example. Inability to sleep, inability to concentrate, usage of outdoor facilities, etc.
Additionally, it is possible to take into account the time of day for monitoring, time interval as well as frequency of occurrence, absolute level , etc.
Degree Of Significance
In this method, the impact of noise is studied in relation to the receptors for noise and the magnitude of the impact. The results are then entered into an impact sheet for noise. Eg. Very large, large, moderate, slight neutral etc.
Decision Process
Measurement of noise
The majority of noise measurements are used to identify a specific area or in the existing the noise surroundings. To ensure that any proposed changes can be be avoided from affecting the health of people
Noise Monitoring Locations
Most often, the location for noise monitoring is selected to shield the closest the noise receptors. The ideal location is in the vicinity of the sensitive zone but generally the same distance away from the source.
Noise Monitoring Time
It is suggested that 22:00 – 7:00 be thought of as night time and 7:00 to 22:00 is considered daytime.
Noise Impact assessment Report
After the process of assessing noise impacts, the report is prepared that includes all the specifics of the impact of the new construction project on the residents.
Below is a summary of the report on noise impact assessment.
Project details: it comprises of the details of the project’s name, client information as well as the details of the consultant and the duration of the noise impact assessment.
Description of project: it contains specifics about the development project and its effects
Noise impact assessment Policy that includes an outline guidelines for the evaluation of noise impact on new developments.
Noise that affects development in this section of report on noise impact assessment, the current level of noise and its impact are evaluated in depth to pinpoint the problematic areas.
Survey Results: Survey results include readings taken during assessment period . A map is made of high-impact and vulnerable areas.
In conclusion: This part describes the outcomes of the noise impact assessment in detail and the steps to be taken to minimize the impact of noise.
Noise Indices
Because noise levels fluctuate across time and locations, it is important to have indicators in place to measure noise levels in the same way in Air Quality Indices.
The Equivalent Continuous Noise Level for an extended period of time eq, T
LA10 Road Traffic Noise, 18H
Sound Impact Mitigation Measures
Find other land arrangements
Noise tolerant buildings
Treatment of the source of noise
Noise barrier/enclosure
Special or better building design
Alternative Location
Decking over
Construction site clearing
Indoor Acoustic Insulation
In short, using findings from noise impact assessments it is much easier to give suggestions for minimizing the impacts on residential areas as well as reduce noise pollution through changes in the sources of noise.
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