Sound Study Analysis
Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH), an industry leader in environmental
and transportation planning including noise and vibration control, performed
noise and vibration monitoring and noise modeling to document and analyze
the noise environment in the vicinity of the Children’s Hospital
New Orleans (the Hospital) this summer. Their report found that “sources
other than the Hospital’s helicopter generated just as much if not
greater vibration levels and at a much higher frequency of occurrence.”
The data also “suggests that the noise and vibration contributions
for the Hospital’s helicopter operations are not significant when
compared to the overall ambient community noise environment. Such that,
if the Hospital’s helicopter operations were eliminated, the ambient
community noise environment would remain unchanged.”
Short-term monitoring efforts and associated data show that multiple sources
of community noise exist beyond helicopter noise, including aircraft,
construction, roadways, and trains. And while noise levels in the community
due to Hospital helicopter operations may sometimes briefly exceed those
caused by other community noise sources, the operations are relatively
short in duration and infrequent when compared to noise from more prevailing
sources like roadway traffic.
HMMH also modeled the differences between the new helistop site and the
former site. It found that “the existing helistop and flight tracks
produce marginally higher noise levels in the community surrounding the
Hospital, mainly due to the higher elevation of the pad allowing for less
shielding of noise from surrounding buildings. However, as stated, any
increase in noise due to the change in helistops is minor when compared
to the frequency and duration of other noise sources within the community.”
Click here to view the full report from HMMH.