CONSTRUCTION NOISE NIPPED IN THE BUD

Improved noise mitigation at the Mushroom Farm Park construction site is a welcome relief for Sandton residents inconvenienced by the sound of explosives and other tunnelling operations.

The inside of rock removal buckets and the backs of tipper trucks are now lined with noise absorbing polyurethane. General tunnelling operations like drilling, rubble removal and spoiling is continuing unabatedly and the additional mitigation measures mentioned assist in reducing the disturbance it could have on residents.  Blasting has however been reported as quite disturbing to residents – especially when it is taking place immediately underneath your house in the early hours of the morning!

Gautrain has received complaints in this regard and has developed new blasting techniques to minimise blasting effects in the residential areas during the early hours of the morning.  The result is a significant drop in received complaints.

The shaft opening at Mushroom Farm Park has been partially enclosed with a structure that has been selectively fitted with acoustic absorption panels that are able to absorb noise in the required areas. Another cause of noise used to be the removal of excavated rock out of tunnels and dumping thereof on the backs of tipper trucks. Since the rubbery linings have been in place, noise levels have dropped drastically.

An additional intervention is the replacement of noisy tunnel ventilation fans with quiet acoustic fans imported from France. The fans are also no longer situated on the surface of the construction site. They were placed underground at both sides of the excavation faces. These fans extract dusty air from tunnels and replace it with clean air for the workers under ground.

To explain all the changes to the Sandton community, Gautrain project officials hosted an open day in December. Residents, ward councillors and City of Johannesburg representatives were given a guided tour of the Mushroom Farm Park site to see for themselves how noise has been successfully alleviated. Examples were demonstrated where an unlined truck was loaded and immediately after that a lined truck was loaded.  This gave everybody a realistic impression of the actual noise attenuation that took place through the noise mitigation measures.  This was very well received. Similar meetings are planned along the project.

All these measures are in line with the requirements of a Draft Final Environmental Management Plan that guides the construction of Gautrain. Adherence to Gautrain’s Draft Final Environment Management Plan is a requirement of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment and ensures that communities and natural resources are protected during construction. These factors contribute to making Gautrain one of the most significant environmentally sustainable rapid rail engineering projects in the world today.