Activity accounting technique for environmental noise assessment in mechanized surface mining

The authors have developed the Activity Accounting Technique for predicting far field noise levels due to operation of specific set of mining machiner y. The technique is based on the breaking down of the mining operations int o a number of activities and establishing their duration and average locati on. By estimating the noise levels due to these activities, the overall noi se field near a surface mine can be predicted. Experiments were undertaken at a quarry to validate the model developed based on this technique. Result s of these experiments are discussed in this paper. The Activity Accounting Technique has the scope of elaborate application for prediction of environ mental noise near mining sites. In a system where the activities involved a nd their duration can be estimated one can develop a noise quality predicti on model based on near field spectrum of the sound pressure levels due to t he activities. However, this method will be more useful if an acoustic data base can be evolved for all the possible activities for different alternati ve equipment system.