vibration investigation residential survey · resonate acoustics developed a set of survey...

Adelaide Brighton Cement Vibration Investigation

Residential Survey

Report Date Thursday 13 October 16 Reference A15623RP4 Revision A

Adelaide Brighton Cement ndash Vibration Investigation Residential Survey A15623RP4 Revision A

wwwresonateacousticscom

Document Information

Project Adelaide Brighton Cement - Vibration Investigation

Client Adelaide Brighton Cement

Report title Residential Survey

Project Number A15623

Author Josh Loh Acoustic Engineer p+61 8 8155 5888

m+61 413 604 320 joshlohresonateacousticscom

Reviewed by Darren Jurevicius Andrew Leonard

Revision Table

Report revision Date Comments

0 4 October 2016 Draft

A 13 October 2016 Revised issue



Glossary A-weighting A spectrum adaption that is applied to measured noise levels to represent

human hearing A-weighted levels are used as human hearing does not respond equally at all frequencies

Day Between 7 am and 10 pm as defined in the Noise EPP

dB Decibelmdasha unit of measurement used to express sound level It is based on a logarithmic scale which means a sound that is 3 dB higher has twice as much energy We typically perceive a 10 dB increase in sound as a doubling of loudness

dB(A) Units of the A-weighted sound level

Frequency (Hz) The number of times a vibrating object oscillates (moves back and forth) in one second Fast movements produce high frequency sound (high pitchtone) but slow movements mean the frequency (pitchtone) is low 1 Hz is equal to 1 cycle per second

Night Before 6 am Mondays to Saturdays 8 am on Sundays and Public Holidays or after 10 pm on any day

Peak Particle Velocity The maximum speed of a particle in a particular component direction due to (PPV) vibration during a measurement

mms Millimetres per second unit of vibration velocity ABC Adelaide Brighton Cement CLG Adelaide Brighton Cement ndash Community Liaison Group



Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1

2 Methodology 2

21 Interview Questions 222 Survey methodology 2

3 Results 4

4 Discussion 6

5 Vibration monitoring 7

51 Investigation Strategy 7

6 Conclusion 9



1 Introduction A recent study carried out by Resonate Acoustics (A15623RP3) measured the potential vibration generated by the Adelaide Brighton Cement (ABC) Birkenhead plant in the vicinity of the nearest residential properties

The report concluded that there was a small increase in the background vibration level when comparing operational and shut-down periods however other activities for example traffic independent of the ABC plant have the potential to be of greater impact on nearby residences than the plant itself

The next step however is to further understand the experiences of those residents living nearest to the plant that may potentially perceive vibration To this end Resonate Acoustics have been engaged by ABC to conduct door-to-door interviews at selected residences near the plant where feedback obtained from these interviews will be used to inform the requirement for further detailed vibration assessment at select residences

Therefore this report outlines the interview methodology and presents a summary of the feedback obtained with our recommendations in relation to further vibration assessment

1



2 Methodology 21 Interview Questions Resonate Acoustics developed a set of survey questions in consultation with the Adelaide BrightonCement Community Liaison Group (CLG) to best assess the potential perception of vibration by localresidences

The survey questions conducted at each interview are presented below

Q1 Have you or anyone in your household noticed any vibrationQ2 How long have you lived hereQ3 What do you (or your household) noticeQ4 When is vibration most noticeableQ5 Are you present during the daynightboth etcQ6 How long does the vibration lastQ7 How do you manage the impact of vibrationQ8 What do you think causes itQ9 Have you or your household sought to talk about the vibration to any party (EPA State

Government Local Council ABC etc) Q10 How do you feel when you experience the vibration or events Q11 Are you willing to be involved in further investigation of vibration within your property

In addition to the responses given to the questions above residents were given every opportunity to further comment on any of the questions or other matters of concern associated with vibration All additional comments were documented as part of the interview process

22 Survey methodology Prior to conducting the surveys a letter enclosed with a vibration fact sheet was sent to residents selected for an interview The letter notifies the residents about the formalities of the interviews where the fact sheet provides some background into vibration assessment

Resonate Acoustics conducted door-to-door interviews on Friday 26th ndash Saturday 27th August 2016 within the area as shown in Figure 1

All properties scheduled for interviews were attended to on the Friday Requests to conducts interviews at an alternative time were rescheduled according to the residentsrsquo wishes Any residents that were not present at the initial visit were revisited during Saturday morning Any outstanding residence that was not surveyed thereafter was revisited again during Saturday afternoon in our endeavour to obtain as many responses as possible

All survey responses and comments are treated in confidence

2

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Figure 1 Survey boundary (highlighted in yellow)



3 Results A total of 40 residences were visited during the survey period Of the 40 residences visited 29 residents approximately 72 completed a door-to-door interview with their responses captured A summary of the responses to each question is presented in Table 1

Table 1 Survey question responses

No Question Survey responses (total 29)

Q1 Have you or anyone in your household noticed any vibration

Yes (24) No (5)

Q2 How long have you lived here lt10 yrs (6)

10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)

Q3 What do you (or your household) notice Hear (25) Feel (14)

Q4 When is vibration most noticeable Night (11)

Both daynight (13)

Q5 Are you present during the daynightboth etc Night (5)

Both daynight (21)

Q6 How long does the vibration last

Seconds (9) Minutes (7) Hours (11)

Donrsquot know (3)

Q7 How do you manage the impact of vibration Nothing (15)

Managed impacts (10)

Q8 What do you think causes it ABC plant works (18)

Other (5) Donrsquot know (6)

Q9 Have you or your household sought to talk about the vibration to any party (EPA State Government Local Council ABC etc)

Yes (8) No (16)

Q10 How do you feel when you experience the vibration or events

Annoyed (16) Not bothered (8)

Q11 Are you willing to be involved in further investigation of vibration within your property

Yes (21) Not an issue (5) Donrsquot know (3)

4



Table 2 presents the collective comments made by surveyed residents in relation to each question discussed during the interview process Numbers following comments indicate the amount of surveyed residents with the similar responses

Table 2 Collective interview comments from surveys

No General interview comments

Q1 Noticed vibration throughout the day and night likely from ABC plant works (20) Could also be contributed from other factors such as Hargrave Street construction of new service station pump station and passing commercial traffic on Victoria Road (4)

Q2 Some residents noticed ABC plant works used to be a lot worse previously (4) although it is still an issue Some notice ABC have been managing other issues like cement dust pollution but not vibration in recent times (6)

Q3 Notice vibration of windowslouvres doors floorboards photos on walls (18) Cracks developing on wall corners and floors (3) Noticed other damage to property construction over time (3) Vibrations are characteristic of humming vibrations (usually intermittent) intermittent thumping and rattling of furniture and windows (responses ranged from both persistent and intermittent occurrences)

Q4 Most noticeable during night time and early mornings (between 7pm ndash 4am) when itrsquos typically quieter in the neighbourhood (16) although vibration still noticeable during the daytime (7) Frequent events such as ABC alarms humming vibrations conveyor belt running occurs during night times

Q5 Some residents are working during the day therefore donrsquot know much about vibrations during the day (5) Activity during the day makes vibration less noticeable However most noticed more activity occurs during night time (16)

Q6 Varies throughout the day Can be anywhere between a few seconds to hours (20) Vibrations are primarily of continuous vibration and intermittent vibration Vibration occurs rather randomly throughout the day Others did not pay much attention to the nature and duration of vibration (4)

Q7 Often turning the TV up louder (3) wedging windows doors with cardboard and foam layers (8) attaching seals in window frames (2) Put cushions and rags against doors and windows to stop rattling (10) Others donrsquot do anything and put up with it instead or have become used to it (7)

Q8 Probably ABC plant conveyor belt rock crushers machinery (17) Victoria Road traffic (5) Hargrave Street construction (3) Some residents donrsquot know exactly what causes it (6) Suggest a likely combination of the ABC plant and Victoria Road traffic (4)

Q9 Some have contacted such parties about vibration (1) and other matters (5) involved in CLG meetings (3) several complaints to ABC Others donrsquot bother getting involved with such parties (15)

Q10 Annoyed and frustrated by it (16) affects daily rhythm feel uncomfortable when whole body vibrating (4) Others are not bothered by it and canrsquot do much about it other than putting up with it (7)

Q11 Further investigation needs to be conducted over a longer period (at least a month) to capture variability in ABC plant works (3) It needs to be conducted without ABC knowing as they minimise works during vibration monitoring previously (2)

5



4 Discussion A total of 14 residents have responded to feeling vibration and 13 of them also reported hearing vibration induced noise in their house

Vibration events were generally most noticeable during the night when typical surrounding day time activity ceases Victoria Road traffic is significantly higher during the daytime which may contribute to the perception of vibration events noted during the day

Residents have described the vibration to be characteristic of either intermittent or continuous vibration As explained to the residents intermittent vibration could be short durations of a few seconds that go on for approximately one hour at most Continuous vibration was described as durations typically more than an hour and over several hours

The majority of responses were that the vibrations present were causing annoyance not due to physical discomfort of the vibrations but rather the secondary effects of vibration within the residences such as vibration causing windows to rattle or worries of vibration causing damage to homes A previous benchmarking study focussed on site plant vibration measurements (A15623RP3) indicated that levels were likely to be below the relevant Australian Standard for comfort levels Further investigation and comment will be undertaken moving forward including the secondary effects of ground borne vibration in homes

Upon completion of the survey 21 residents were willing to be involved in further investigation of vibration within their property These residents were made aware of what this may involve and have agreed accordingly Residents who were willing to be involved in this further investigation indicated that to monitor all potential vibration events experienced vibration monitoring should be conducted for at least one month based on varying activity levels from the ABC plant

Based on the outcomes discussed above Resonate Acoustics will determine appropriate properties to undertake physical testing and the nature of potential vibrations and undertake the monitoring in the coming months

6



5 Vibration monitoring From the survey results we have identified 11 properties with potential for further investigation of potential vibrations We have assessed the locations of these properties to determine the best properties to assess potential vibrations and have distinguished 6 properties to conduct further investigation of vibration The proposed properties selected for vibration monitoring are indicated in Figure 2 We have selected 6 properties as this is slightly over half of the identified properties eligible to conduct further investigation Further to this we have highlighted to measure at 3 properties who residents have identified vibration as being intermittent and 3 properties who have identified that the vibration is constant Of these subsets we have attempted to have monitoring locations which are geographically diverse (ie one in the north middle and south) to try and capture a broad spectrum of vibration phenomena reported

51 Investigation Strategy The next steps involve implementing an investigation strategy to assist in better understanding the nature of potential vibrations on local residents We recommend the following strategy in our investigation of vibration

1 Consult residents of selected properties to gain consent for installation of vibration monitoring instruments

2 Install vibration instruments at agreed properties 3 Have residents fill out notes during survey period outlining when they notice vibration events 4 Conduct vibration measurements over an agreed period of time 5 Analyse vibration measurements to determine the nature and characteristics of potential

vibrations 6 Assess the impact of measured vibration against relevant criteria addressing human exposure

to whole-body vibrations in buildings 7 Determine appropriate actions if required upon completion of the study

This investigation strategy is preliminary and is subject to review from ABC and the CLG before proceeding We note that having residents fill out notes of experienced vibration during the survey is key to determining the causeimpact of ground borne vibrations at residences We ask that residents who have vibration monitors installed within their homes keep a log at times throughout the entire campaign (even beforeafter a monitor is placed at their premises)

7



Figure 2 Proposed property locations for monitoring

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2

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5

6

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6 Conclusion Resonate Acoustics have conducted door-to-door interviews within a selected property area near the ABC plant to further understand the experiences of those residents in relation to vibration

Responses to the survey questions and any other comments expressed by the 29 surveyed residents were presented anonymously Responses to the survey questions were discussed in further detail

Information collected from survey responses and comments assisted Resonate Acoustics determine proposed locations to undertake physical testing of potential vibrations An investigation strategy of vibration has been proposed for undertaking monitoring at selected residents to better understand the impacts of potential vibrations on local residents

9



Document Information

Project Adelaide Brighton Cement - Vibration Investigation

Client Adelaide Brighton Cement

Report title Residential Survey

Project Number A15623

Author Josh Loh Acoustic Engineer p+61 8 8155 5888

m+61 413 604 320 joshlohresonateacousticscom

Reviewed by Darren Jurevicius Andrew Leonard

Revision Table

Report revision Date Comments

0 4 October 2016 Draft

A 13 October 2016 Revised issue















2 Methodology 2


3 Results 4

4 Discussion 6



6 Conclusion 9







1












2

3










Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





4

















5









6










7




1

2

3

4

5

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2 Methodology 2


3 Results 4

4 Discussion 6



6 Conclusion 9







1












2

3










Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





4

















5









6










7




1

2

3

4

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1












2

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Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





4

















5









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1

2

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2

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Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





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Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





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Yes (24) No (5)


10 ndash 30 yrs (15) gt 30 yrs (5)



Both daynight (13)


Both daynight (21)



Donrsquot know (3)






Yes (8) No (16)





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vibration investigation residential survey · resonate acoustics developed a set of survey...

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