An Urban Noise Study in the City of Bahía Blanca, Argentina

VÍCTOR H. CORTÍNEZ; PABLO G. GIRÓN; ADRIÁN P. AZZURRO; MARIANO TONINI; MARTIN SEQUEIRA; LIBERTO ERCOLI

Río de Janeiro, Brasil

Congreso; INTERNOISE. The 2005 Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering; 2005

Brazilian Acoustical Society (SOBRAC) together with the Iberoamerican Federation of Acoustics (FIA).

Abstract Noise pollution constitutes a serious problem in modern cities. The first step to the solution of this problem is the characterization of the urban acoustic conditions. These conditions depend of several factors such as noise levels, type of sources, population density, local habits, kind of activities and architectural aspects . Several studies were developed in order to consider some of these aspects in different cities. The results of the available reports represent an useful source of information for performing new studies in other places. However, it is important to keep in mind that this problem strongly depends on local characteristics. This paper deals with the characterization of the environmental acoustic conditions in the city of Bahía Blanca (Argentina) with particular emphasis in both a mixed residential-industrial area and the commercial centre. The noise levels in the streets of the zone were evaluated for different moments of the day. The corresponding time intervals are associated with different characteristics of the noise. In particular , during the night the traffic flow is very low, for the industrial zone. Accordingly, the measurements characterize the industrial impact on the noise level of the zone. The historic evolution of the noise level is evaluated and comparisons are made with other cities of the world. Noise pollution constitutes a serious problem in modern cities. The first step to the solution of this problem is the characterization of the urban acoustic conditions. These conditions depend of several factors such as noise levels, type of sources, population density, local habits, kind of activities and architectural aspects . Several studies were developed in order to consider some of these aspects in different cities. The results of the available reports represent an useful source of information for performing new studies in other places. However, it is important to keep in mind that this problem strongly depends on local characteristics. This paper deals with the characterization of the environmental acoustic conditions in the city of Bahía Blanca (Argentina) with particular emphasis in both a mixed residential-industrial area and the commercial centre. The noise levels in the streets of the zone were evaluated for different moments of the day. The corresponding time intervals are associated with different characteristics of the noise. In particular , during the night the traffic flow is very low, for the industrial zone. Accordingly, the measurements characterize the industrial impact on the noise level of the zone. The historic evolution of the noise level is evaluated and comparisons are made with other cities of the world. 1.