You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Council have changed the road near us. have added a raised crossing.
the design of it means vehicles don't actually have to slow down from 30mph if they don't want to.
for the most part this is fine, until a flatbed / trailer or empty lorry hits it. then there is a massive bang. this can start as early at 5.30am.
I want a recording device that measures the decibels and the number of occurances.
this is to gather data before having a chat about how the road could be improved to reduce noise. basically the speed hump needs to actually reduce speed not be some sort of ski jump for people who don't own their vehicles
does a thing exist?
Why not raise this now with the council, they may have their own devices they can set up for surveys.
Or searching on Amazon, something like:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Backlight-Accuracy-Measuring-30dB-130dB/dp/B01MZ0IUGY/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=sound%2Blevel%2Bmeter&qid=1681800115&sr=8-10&th=1
I'd rather have some evidence before I raise it and confirm the level of the bangs and how often. it could just be I'm being a light sleeper ( I don't think I am)
I've not found the council overly helpful or fast to respond.
there is a consultation on making the road a 20mph, sadly the type that like to hit speed bumps at speed are also unlikely to be the type that pay any attention to a 20
thanks for the link, yes that sort of thing but able to record several days data / send it to a device that can record it
For us noise is dealt with at local council level and roads "engineered" at county level
I'd get the local council to carry out their duties and present the evidence to county
that's a decent point I'd assumed it was all done by the same council.
banging does also seem very dependent on if balfour Beaty have some projects kn in the local vicinity. there must be a depot somewhere close by where they store all the temp traffic lights and signs. I swear those guys must get air to make the sound they do
We had epic problems with a noisy factory nearby.
I used a an all that pin pointed the main frequency issue. The results matche the council machine and the offender used the same software in the end as well.
They changed some machinery and the noise stopped.
It's on Android and called Sound Analyzed Pro (author "NoBapp" Japanese).
This software is excellent and I even went pro in the end).
It has a waterfall view.
Mail me if you want to chat about our battle may help.
Rt
Speak to your local environmental health department ours has a calibrated recording device that they visit your house and setup for a week.
Be aware that there are legal maximum noise limits for roads. However, they may be higher than is tolerable for point-in-time bangs (they set them for a regular stream of cars). Point in time bangs may be separately covered in legislation.
This is from memory from about 30 years ago. 🙂
Ian Walker on Twitter might be able to help - from memory he’s done some research into road noise.
sadly the type that like to hit speed bumps at speed are also unlikely to be the type that pay any attention to a 20
speaking as someone who lives about 15m from a speed bump in a 20mph zone, can confirm you are correct here
I get a free frequency spectrum analyser when I was trying to sound-deaden a cat.
Won't be calibrated for spl obvs
Bear in mind that decibels are a relative measurement…”it’s ten decibels louder than Motorhead at forty paces”.
And the measurement is affected (squared) by how close you are to the sound source.
So, you’ll need to factor in some kind of control or reference point.
And on a tangent, as far as road designs go, it might be easier to massively widen the pavements and make the road effectively one lane with passing places.
That would calm the roads down.
thanks all for your thoughts.
tbh the road wasn't/ isn't overly that bad. it is a fairly busy alternative route into the city but that's never been a problem for us.
the issue is since the road improvements have been implemented we get the occasional crash which sounds like someone has dropped a massive bag of spanners outside your window. that's all down to people using the new speed bump and as a launch ramp.
not entirely sure what can be done to improve it. banning goods vehicles overnight might do it. removing the bumps altogether would be my preference as they achieve nothing to slow traffic, however there will be zero chance of tha
someone has also mentioned compensation for potential impact to house valuation due to the altered road and extra noise pollution maybe if I can get some money triple glazing could be the answer
So just found out why it has been particularly bad this week - the school near us is having what looks like some major work, and alot of scaffolding is going up. Its the empty scaffold trucks hitting it at speed, maybe they are having some sort of who can get the most air competition.
Its the empty scaffold trucks hitting it at speed
The problem with trucks is that the load on the rear axle changes massively depending on whether the truck is empty or fully loaded. They need extremely stiff springs and damping (and tyre pressures) to cope with a full load, but then they are over-sprung and over-damped when they are empty. They will be constantly bouncing their rear tyres off the road even if they are driven at normal speeds so any tools or gear in the bed will bounce and rattle around. The drivers are probably driving at a modest speed, it's just that trucks bounce around when they're not loaded.