• Specialty

  Noise / Vibration
  

• SECTOR

  Commercial
  Industrial
  Municipal
  Transportation
  

• TYPE

  Environmental Study
  Permitting / Compliance
  

• CLIENTELE

  Private Sector
  

• TIMESPAN

  2012

• LOCATION

  Cambridge, MA

Residences at Fresh Pond-Building 2

SERVICE:

Noise Impact Review

DESCRIPTION:

A proposed apartment development was going to be located close to commuter rail trains on the Fitchburg line. One of the apartment buildings, Building 2, needed potential interior sound levels evaluated for each of the apartment units. The closest apartment window on Building 2 would be 78 feet from the nearest commuter rail track. Tech collected 1-second equivalent sound levels (Leq) for one inbound, and one outbound train pass-by, for the apartment building. Tech used these measurements to predict the sound levels inside the proposed apartment units that had windows facing the railroad tracks. The peak interior train sound inside the apartments was higher than the noise criterion of 48 dBA, and therefore, Tech suggested windows with a higher STC rating to reduce the likelihood of sleep disturbance at night.

 

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Key Points

• A new apartment dwelling had been proposed close to a rail line where there was potential for adverse effects from the trains to become a nuisance.
• Tech performed sound monitoring to predict future sound levels inside the apartments and provided sound mitigation measures.