Noise from construction sites and its impact on nearbyhousing : Study case district Öster in Jönköping

Purpose: Studies indicates that society is exposed to a lot of noise and that it is a matter of public comfort. Constructions sites are one of several sources that contributes with noise to the society and those that are mainly affected by this is the nearby residents of the construction site. The comfort and the impact that noise has on humans can vary from person to person. Factors such as the intensity and frequency of the sound and the persons general conditions are important when investigating the comfort impact of noise. The aim of this stud is to fins out to what extent people in the nearby homes perceive noise from a construction site as disturbing and to find out how the noise affect the human comfort. The aim is also to come up with proposals on how we can reduce and improve noise levels from a constructions site. • What impact does the construction site in general, have on human comfort in the residential area? • How is noise from the construction site in the district Öster in Jönköping experienced by the nearby residents? • Which moments/tasks contributes the most noise at a construction site, and how can the noise dispersion de improved? Method: Survey was the method used to achieve the studies objectives. This was done through opinion polls of nearby residents and construction workers at Öster in Jönköping. For further support and information, a literature study was also conducted. Findings: Noise from construction sites usually occurs when larger machines and other tools have been used, those that are affected by this are, among other things, nearby residents to the construction site. Noise can affect people physically and mentally where symptoms such as sleep disturbance, impaired learning / performance, hearing damage and cardiovascular disease can occur. The empirical evidence shows that noise clearly affects those living nearby and that it often affects them negatively, both physically and mentally. The two main comfort effects according to the empirical data are impaired learning / performance and sleep disorders. Implications: The conclusions that are drawn are that those nearby the construction site are in some way negatively affected by the noise. Most noise occurs most in the foundation work in a construction process, but on the other hand there is no direct solution as the work must be carried out. What would be recommended is that the construction company adjusts the times for minimal noise emission but also informs nearby residents how long the noise will last. Another recommendation would also be to use less noise-emitting machines. Limitations: The work is only aimed at nearby residents perception of construction site noise. Other types of noise, such as traffic noise, are not relevant and have been excluded from the work. Keywords: Noise, construction site, construction site noise, health impact