Restaurant Noise

Today, hrdefender had lunch in the restaurant on the ground floor of Building A in the Chaeng Wattana Government complex. The food was excellent at a most reasonable price. Problem was the noise. The ambient noise at lunchtime measured 75 db, already far exceeding the 55 db recommended for restaurant noise. 55 db is the level where relaxed conversation is possible and thus too much to ask of a huge cafeteria. But the problem of the Building A ground floor restaurant was the awful scraping of chairs on a tiled floor. Everyone using the restaurant dragged out their chair, sat down, and dragged it in again, completely oblivious of the noise grenade launched in the whole resonating area. The noise meter surged to 82 or more decibels with every such noise event. This is a fourfold increase of noise power. Every chair gave out a different raucous tone, leading to a cacophony of squeaks and shrill wails which would enervate an angel. It seemed to have no effect on the lunching masses, but must contribute to the noxious role of persistent noise on all of us.  We can become oblivious to a constant noise source, a fan or air conditioner. We can even come to ignore a recurrent sound, a bell or passing train. But random noise escapes all deadening of perception.
The solutions are easy. Lift one's chair rather than dragging it. Or, put a cheap rubber cap on each leg of the chair. Neither will happen unless we train children to be attentive to simple noise limiting habits, or invest in the cheap technology of noise limitation. Unless we complain loudly and noisily Else, we go insane in an ever noise indifferent culture.

Those Wretched Decibels

A new European Index of noise
  A project aims to create Harmonica, by 2014, a new index of noise, simple to understand by the population. Traditional indicators combine data that reflect the intensity of noise in decibels and other aspects that measure events, such as horns, in addition to background noise. Currently, the noise maps indicate the noise levels generated by the transport infrastructure or industrial sites regardless of fluctuating noises. The variety of different noise sources is not always evaluated. The new index will include all the parameters by offering a simple scale ranging from 1 to 10. This will lead to the creation of an Internet portal for disseminating the results of the noise levels of different cities in Europe.

Road Noise Can Be Reduced

The Paris – Lyon motorway is the noisiest of the French capital, inhabited by more than 100 000 inhabitants over a distance of 35 km Measurements revealed that noise levels routinely exceed the permissible exposure limits, day and night. 61,000 people suffer the noise without respite.

HEALTH HAZARD FROM 85 DECIBELS
Between 25 and 29 June, the pavement of the expressway has been replaced by a new acoustic cover. The process is expected to make a reduction of about 7 to 8 decibels (dB), the equivalent of a traffic reduction by a factor of 8.
Before starting work, indicators reported noise values ​​between 76 and 83 dB (A). This is significant because experts estimate that thre is a health hazard from 85 dB (A).

But a change of coating will not be enough. To truly reduce the noise, experts recommend reducing traffic speed, especially at night.

Another action, called "down a tone," is conducted on the terraces in Paris, which since the smoking ban in public places, have become the venue of revelers, causing conflict and exasperation of local residents. Five monitoring stations were installed on  terraces in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, to assess the volume.
Starting in September, warning systems will be tested. When a threshold, defined in consultation with local residents and the municipality, has been reached, owners will receive an SMS alert. Signs posted on the terraces will indicate the noise level in real time. A red light will indicate an excess of voice ...