9.0 CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT NOISE LEVELS AND RANGES

9.1 Equipment Type Inventory and Related Emission Levels

Noise levels generated by individual pieces of construction equipment and specific construction operations form the basis for the prediction of construction-related noise levels. A variety of information exists related to sound emissions related to such equipment and operations. This data transcends the period beginning in the 1970s thru 2006. This information exists for both stationary and mobile sources and for steady, intermittent, and impulse type generators of noise.

9.1.1 Stationary Equipment.
Stationary equipment consists of equipment that generates noise from one general area and includes items such as pumps, generators, compressors, etc. These types of equipment operate at a constant noise level under normal operation and are classified as non-impact equipment. Other types of stationary equipment such as pile drivers, jackhammers, pavement breakers, blasting operations, etc., produce variable and sporadic noise levels and often produce impact-type noises. Impact equipment is equipment that generates impulsive noise, where impulsive noise is defined as noise of short duration (generally less than one second), high intensity, abrupt onset, rapid decay, and often rapidly changing spectral composition. For impact equipment, the noise is produced by the impact of a mass on a surface, typically repeating over time.

9.1.2 Mobile Equipment.
Mobile equipment such as dozers, scrapers, graders, etc., may operate in a cyclic fashion in which a period of full power is followed by a period of reduced power. Other equipment such as compressors, although generally considered to be stationary when operating, can be readily relocated to another location for the next operation.

9.2 Sources of Information

Construction-related equipment and operation noise level data may be provided by numerous sources, including suppliers, manufacturers, agencies, organizations, etc. Some information is included in this document, and many web-based links are given for equipment manufacturers.

9.3 Specifics of Construction Equipment and Operation Noise Inventories

Details included in each specific inventory of construction equipment and operation noise emission levels are often variable in terms of how data is represented. Some inventories include ranges of noise levels while others present single numbers for each equipment type. Others provide levels for specific models of each type of construction equipment. Often, different noise descriptors are used, such as L_Aeq, L_max, L₁₀, sound power level, etc. As such, the array of data does not readily lend itself to being combined into a single table or easily compared. As such, this Handbook attempts to summarize a variety of such inventories and provide links to each, thereby providing the reader with a variety of sources from which to choose the appropriate levels for use in his or her respective analysis.

9.4 Summaries of Referenced Inventories

Included below are examples of several inventories of construction-related noise emission values. These and additional inventories are included on the companion CD-ROM.

9.4.1 RCNM Inventory.
Equipment and operation noise levels in this inventory are expressed in terms of Lmax noise levels and are accompanied by a usage factor value. They have been recently updated and are based on extensive measurements taken in conjunction with the Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project. Table 9.1 summarizes the equipment noise emissions database used by the CA/T Project. While these values represent the "default" values for use in the RCNM, user-defined equipment and corresponding noise levels can be added.

Table 9.1. RCNM Default Noise Emission Reference Levels and Usage Factors

Equipment Description	Impact Device?	Acoustical Usage Factor (%)	Spec. 721.560 Lmax @ 50 feet (dBA, slow)	Actual Measured Lmx @ 50 feet (dBA, slow) (Samples Averaged)	Number of Actual Data Samples (Count)
All Other Equipment > 5 HP	No	50	85	N/A	0
Auger Drill Rig	No	20	85	84	36
Backhoe	No	40	80	78	372
Bar Bender	No	20	80	N/A	0
Blasting	Yes	50	85	N/A	0
Boring Jack Power Unit	No	50	80	83	1
Chain Saw	No	20	85	84	46
Clam Shovel (dropping)	Yes	20	93	87	4
Compactor (ground)	No	40	80	78	18
Compressor (air)	No	50	85	N/A	0
Concrete Batch Plant	No	15	83	N/A	0
Concrete Mixer Truck	No	40	85	79	40
Concrete Pump Truck	No	20	82	81	30
Concrete Saw	No	20	90	90	55
Crane	No	16	85	81	405
Dozer	No	40	85	82	55
Drill Rig Truck	No	20	84	79	22
Drum Mixer	No	50	80	80	1
Dump Truck	No	40	84	76	31
Excavator	No	40	85	81	170
Flat Bed Truck	No	40	84	N/A	0
Front End Loader	No	40	80	79	96
Generator	No	50	82	81	19
Generator(<25KVA, VMS Signs)	No	50	85	N/A	0
Gradall	No	40	85	83	70
Grader	No	40	85	N/A	0
Grapple (on backhoe)	No	25	80	82	6
Horizontal Boring Hydraulic Jack	No	50	85	N/A	0
Hydra Break Ram	Yes	10	90	N/A	0
Impact Pile Driver	Yes	20	95	101	11
Jackhammer	Yes	20	85	89	133
Man Lift	No	20	85	75	23
Mounted Impact Hammer (hoe ram)	Yes	20	90	90	212
Pavement Scarifier	No	20	85	90	2
Paver	No	50	85	77	9
Pickup Truck	No	40	55	75	1
Pneumatic Tools	No	50	85	85	90
Pumps	No	50	77	81	17
Refrigerator Unit	No	100	82	73	3
Rivet Buster/Chipping Gun	Yes	20	85	79	19
Rock Drill	No	20	85	81	3
Roller	No	20	85	80	16
Sand Blasting (single nozzle)	No	20	85	96	9
Scraper	No	40	85	84	12
Sheers (on backhoe)	No	40	85	96	5
Slurry Plant	No	100	78	78	1
Slurry Trenching Machine	No	50	82	80	75
Soil Mix Drill Rig	No	50	80	N/A	0
Tractor	No	40	84	N/A	0
Vacuum Excavator (Vac-Truck)	No	40	85	85	149
Vacuum Street Sweeper	No	10	80	82	19
Ventilation Fan	No	100	85	79	13
Vibrating Hopper	No	50	85	87	1
Vibratory Concrete Mixer	No	20	80	80	1
Vibratory Pile Driver	No	20	95	101	44
Warning Horn	No	5	85	83	12
Welder/Torch	No	40	73	74	5

For each generic type of equipment listed in Table 9.1, the following information is provided:

• an indication as to whether or not the equipment is an impact device;
• the acoustical usage factor to assume for modeling purposes;
• the specification "Spec" limit for each piece of equipment expressed as L_max level in dBA "slow" at a reference distance of 50 foot from the loudest side of the equipment;
• the measured "Actual" emission level at 50 feet for each piece of equipment based on hundreds of emission measurements performed on CA/T work sites; and
• the number of samples that were averaged together to compute the "Actual" emission level.

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