Return to Noise Assessment  Noise Assessment     Project Summary ::   1   2   3   4   5   6   7     Background With headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont, C&S Wholesale Grocers is a rapidly growing company that distributes food to supermarkets throughout the Northeast, and has undergone several expansions in recent years. The company supports a $1 billion per year business and plans to add an additional $700 million per year. The permitting process for these expansions has repeatedly focused attention on numerous traffic, air quality, and noise issues. Noise from the facility is a concern particularly during the night when warehouse activity peaks and noise is potentially more noticeable. C&S engaged Resource Systems Group to conduct a noise impact analysis as part of C&S’s environmental permit application for a proposed expansion which will result in the employment of 1,400 people and traffic from over 1,300 truck trips per day at C&S’s two Brattleboro warehouses. Project Scope •  Traffic and intersection/road geometry data collection; •  Round-the clock background and facility noise recording; and •  Modeling of future conditions with proposed traffic and C&S trucks. Project Results Resource Systems Group conducted detailed computer noise modeling, which combined noise from several sources including highways and the proposed warehouse throughout the day and night. In this way, the times of greatest impact, as well as the highest overall noise levels, were determined for locations outside the property. Compliance with local noise statutes and federal guidelines was insured by modeling the optimum location for a noise barrier which mitigates impacts at a nearby residential area. The noise control barriers at the proposed southern site will reduce noise levels at nearby residences by up to eight decibels.