Results of previous research related to the acoustical mapping of noise levels in an urban environment confirmed the decision to measure the sound levels in the middle-size town of La Spezia in terms of time-average (or 'equivalent-continuous') A-frequency-weighted sound levels. An 8-min integration time was selected for measurements of quasi-continuous sound sources such as road traffic and industrial noise as well as other sound sources. Sound levels were measured with integrating-averaging sound level meters during morning and afternoon hours on weekdays at locations on the corners of an approximately square grid mesh laid out over the plan of the town. The squares were approximately 282 m on a side. The results from the acoustical mapping showed that the town of La Spezia did not have particularly high levels of road traffic noise, even in the central district with the highest traffic density. On the other hand, high sound levels were measured near a town motorway, the railway, some industries, and some harbor activities. These higher sound levels were present only in restricted areas and, as regards the railway, in relatively brief time intervals. The probability distributions of the measured 8-min-average sound levels were not well represented by any of the standard theoretical distributions, including the Weibull, Rayleigh, and Gaussian distributions. Reasonable fits were sometimes obtained by the superposition of two Gaussian (or two Weibull) distributions. A test of the influence of the prohibition against private automotive traffic on a main avenue in the central district showed that the traffic restriction yielded a reduction in average sound level of the order of 3 dB in the area around the street with the traffic restriction. However, if reduction in air pollution is also considered (particularly the reduction in the concentration of carbon monoxide), the effect of traffic restriction has additional benefits beyond reducing the average sound level.
Case history: Noise level survey in a middle-size town and remarks on traffic restrictions
Eine Fallstudie: Lärmuntersuchungen in einer mittelgroßen Stadt und Vorschläge für Verkehrsrestriktionen
Noise Control Engineering Journal ; 44 , 4 ; 201-206
1996
6 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 6 Tabellen, 17 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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