Protecting pedestrians from open construction activities

Abstract

During the course of a project that was conducted for New York City’s Department of Design and Construction, it was observed that many urban construction activities occur in open areas, involving street repaving, overhaul of utility lines, sidewalk repairs, etc. Equipment such as backhoes, jackhammers, air compressors, and pavement saws generate extremely loud noises, often exceeding 100 dB(A) at 5 or 6 m. Passersby, exposed to the cacophony without the benefit of any intervening barriers, are as close as 0.4 m to the noise-generating equipment. An additional peril to passing pedestrians exists in debris flying from the breakup of concrete, asphalt, or metal. It was also noted that many pedestrians, even those suffering the threshold of pain from the noise, will not go out of their way to a quieter section of the street. Hence, a need exists to establish and enforce regulations to protect pedestrians from such open construction activities. Noise barriers can do double duty in preventing the scattering of debris and mitigating noise. Portability and reusability constitute the requirements for these barriers. But, contractors need to be educated on the proper deployment of these barriers and on the necessity for them.