Managing Construction Noise and Vibration in an Urban Environment
Summary
Noise was one of the main impacts and challenges during the construction of the Crossrail project. It was recognised that for Crossrail’s Tier 1 contractors to achieve the necessary levels of performance in noise management, focus could not solely be on controlling or minimising noise levels. Factors such as community engagement, effective planning, management processes, leadership and culture were identified as being critical to successful noise management on sites.
This case study describes the detailed suite of performance criteria that were developed for construction noise and vibration management with the aim of driving improved performance. It sets out how the process evolved throughout the Crossrail construction works and the further guidance that was developed to encourage contractors to reach the top levels of performance. Examples from the contractors who have achieved the top level of performance are provided to demonstrate how the performance measures were used in practice.
The criteria defined in this case study have been demonstrated through the process to be effective performance indicators of construction noise management, and have lead contractors to the focus on and prioritise these areas of management. As such, this document may be of use to Clients considering developing a means of measuring the construction noise management performance of their principal contractor(s) on a construction project in an urban environment, and for Principal Contractors in turn to manage and measure the construction noise performance of their supply chain.