Return to Noise Assessment  Noise Assessment     Project Summary ::   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   Background RSG was retained to assess sound levels from operations at Southern Ready Mix Aggregates’ Opelika, Alabama quarry. The quarry was undergoing changes in equipment and operation and needed to determine the relative impact of noise on adjoining residences. Project Scope RSG made six site visits to the Opelika quarry, making sound level measurements at over 50 locations in and around the site. Sound emission levels from all the operational equipment were determined, including such sources as the crusher, drilling, blasting, loaders, dump trucks, scrapers, haul trucks, excavators, and hammers. Statistical analyses were made to correlate quarry noise with noise monitored along the property lines. Finally sound modeling was conducted to determine changes in sound levels resulting from modifications to the quarry and its operations. Project Results The monitoring data showed that existing sound levels outside the quarry do not exceed federal guidelines. The statistical analyses indicated that there is no correlation between quarry noise and sound levels monitored at the south, southwest, and northern property lines, indicating that the quarry, while audible from time to time, does not dominate background noise at these locations. The modeling, which was conducted at over 40 homes and properties, found that the proposed quarry changes, which included constructing a 60 foot high berm to the south and a 30 foot high berm to the west, and moving the crusher to the quarry floor, would result in a reduced noise level at a majority of the sites.