Annoyance of single and combined machinery noises from construction sites

Abstract

In this study, annoyance caused by single and combined construction machinery noise is evaluated through the auditory experiments of two groups those are residents and construction engineers. Six construction machinery noises those are pile driver, earth auger, pay loader, breaker, bulldozer and excavator were recorded in several construction sites in Korea, by using the binaural ear microphone. LAeq was varied from 40 to 90 dBA with an interval of 5dBA for auditory experiment of single construction machinery noise. The annoyance for each construction machineries were increased according to increase noise level. Annoyance for four combined construction noises was evaluated by auditory experiment. LAeq was varied from 40 to 75 dBA with an interval of 5 dBA. The variations in annoyance scores were not sensitive when background noise levels increased. Based on the results, it can be suggested that the reasonable SN ratios were ranged from 0 to 10 dBA.