Acoustics Noise Vibration staff have provided advice to industry, developers, councils and state government bodies regarding Quarries, Coal Mining, Ports, Coal Seam Gas, Refining, Manufacturing and general Industrial developments. Projects have ranged in size from environmental impact studies for new mines and international production facilities to small processing plant and light industrial facilities. Our staff are well regarded by local and state government bodies which assists in providing a direct path to the best outcome. Our approach is to provide the appropriate level of detail necessary to address both the matters raised and associated issues which may have been overlooked, thus minimising the risk to clients.

The Acoustics Goal:

The goal of the acoustic consultant for industrial projects is to provide an easily understood assessment, with clear recommendations for noise and vibration control measures if required to assist the client to achieve their desired outcome. For industry and government bodies this requires:

• a thorough knowledge of the noise and vibration policy,
• providing a technical assessment with the level of detail appropriate for the project,
• assessment of both the impact of the proposal on the surrounding land uses and the impact of the surrounding uses on the site, and
• being able to negotiate suitable conditions including defending the noise assessment in planning and environment legal proceedings should the matter proceed to appeal.

Key Elements:

Projects have involved:

• environmental impact assessment studies for construction and operation,
• occupational noise investigations,
• noise modelling,
• complaint investigations,
• development of technical specifications for tender, and
• design and testing of acoustic treatments to enable occupational and environmental noise criteria to be met.

Acoustic work has included:

• noise and vibration monitoring,
• calculating daily noise doses (Leq) and Lpeak for occupational noise assessment,
• blasting over pressure noise and ground vibration monitoring,
• measurement of sound power levels for plant and equipment,
• piling underwater noise,
• application of noise and vibration criteria,
• development of site specific noise criteria,
• allowance for low frequency noise,
• understanding the plant operation,
• preparing 3D noise models for accurate prediction of industry noise levels,
• validation of predicted noise levels against measured noise levels,
• design of suitable noise control measures to enable the noise criteria to be met,
• preparation of noise management plans,
• presentation of findings in a clear concise report with informative figures and noise contour plots,
• preparation of joint expert reports and court reports, and
• presentation of the noise and vibration evidence as expert witness in planning and environment legal proceedings.

Noise Control Measures:

Treatments have been designed for a wide range of noise and vibration sources including:

• noise and vibration isolation treatments for 900kW pumping station,
• design and costing of noise control measures for gas well head compressors,
• enclosure for timber web profiling machine,
• in-line silencers for large exhaust fans (8 x 500kVA motors),
• barriers/enclosures/ close fitting resonator treatments for large transformers,
• conveyors,
• barriers and internal treatments for panel beating & mechanical workshop noise,
• dredge engine enclosure,
• rail grinding machine,
• linings for timber processing industry,
• laundry exhaust fan attenuators,
• cooling tower attenuators,
• enclosures & barriers,
• air conditioning & ventilation plant and ducting treatments,
• rockdrill temporary enclosure,
• options for reversing beepers,
• barriers for loading docks,
• impact noise control options for various industries, and
• steam valve enclosures.

Facilities have included:

• oil & gas industry,
• drilling and fraccing for gas,
• workers camps,
• RO water treatment plant,
• compressor stations,
• mines,
• conveyors,
• railway unloading facilities,
• coal terminals,
• port ship loading facilities,
• alumina refinery,
• aluminium smelter,
• cement production,
• magnesium production,
• sugar mills,
• scrap metal processing,
• dredging,
• railway equipment,
• panel beating,
• industrial sub-divisions,
• abattoirs,
• private railways & roads,
• concrete batching plant,
• construction noise & vibration,
• bio-fuel refining plant,
• commercial kitchens and laundries,
• hard rock quarries,
• sand and gravel quarries,
• wind farms,
• power stations,
• power distribution and sub-stations,
• mechanical workshops,
• timber milling,
• rubber manufacturing,
• paper processing,
• water and sewerage plants, and
• waste transfer stations.

Projects undertaken by Acoustics Noise Vibration staff have included:

Oil & Gas 

• QGC Curtis Island QCLNG Plant EIS – noise and vibration
• QGC Surat North gas fields EIS – noise and vibration
• QGC – monitoring, modelling, assessment and design of noise control measures for: drilling and fraccing, construction worker camps, pipeline right of way, pipe laydown areas, cumulative noise impacts, field compressor stations, central processing plant, RO water treatment plant design and specification of treatments with Bechtel, venting, flaring, gas well head compressor layout assessment
• Origin Energy – gas field compressors, nodal compressors
• APLNG Curtis Island LNG Plant – modelling and design of treatments to achieve compliance
• SANTOS pipeline – noise assessment for pipeline truck haul route near Port Alma

Mining and Quarries 

• Dudgeon Point Coal Terminal – stacker reclaimer, railway, rail unloading, piling underwater noise
• Hay Point Coal Terminal Expansion – piling underwater noise
• Rolleston Coal Mine EIS – noise and vibration
• Rail Siding Environmental Noise Management Plan – Emerald
• McArthur River Mines (Bing Bong outloading facility)
• Redbank mine blast monitoring
• Mt Cotton Quarry
• Holts Hill Quarry
• Mt Marrow Quarry
• Mackay Quarry
• Blast monitoring for various Pioneer and Boral quarries

Power Industry

• Millmerran Power Station noise to residence
• Direct Link power converter station, Mullumbimby – noise assessment, compliance monitoring and approvals
• Substation assessment and noise control for transformers, capacitor banks, load cells, line traps located at – Tweed North, Tweed South, Terranora, Cudgen, Banora Point, Murwillumbah, Ballina, Terranora underground lines
• South Tweed Load Cell – design and testing of noise and vibration control measures
• Terranora new transformer – monitoring, review of enclosure design, inspections at Wilson factory in Melbourne

General Industry

• Frog Metals – metal recycling
• One Steel, Gladstone – metal recycling
• Shale Oil Project Gladstone – review of noise management
• Beenleigh Abattoir
• Lake Creek Abattoir
• Industrial Estate, Beaudesert
• Wastelink concrete crushing and recycling Waste Transfer Stations, Nerang and Pinkenba
• Landscape Supplies, Sand & Gravel
• Boyne Smelters potline fans and 3rd Potline expansion
• Cement Australia Plant, Gladstone – review of plant noise assessment
• Alumina Refinery Wharf, West Kalimantan
• Process Mill Noise, Chengdu
• Queensland Newspapers
• Hyne Timbers, Maryborough
• CSR Softwoods, Caboolture
• Boral Timber sawmill
• Boral Plywood, Ipswich
• Various sugar mills
• Commercial laundries
• Panel beating and mechanical workshops
• Residential sub-division pumping station
• Australia Post parcel handling facility
• TAFE workshops
• Queensland Magnesia

Occupational – Workplace Health, Noise Dose, Hearing Protection, Engineering Solutions

• Cairns helicopters – noise survey
• Queensland Alumina, Gladstone – noise mapping for site
• Qld Rubber – noise survey and management measures
• Paper Bag manufacturing – noise survey