Northumberland County Council, County Hall, Morpeth, NE61 2EF
NO MORE NOISY NEIGHBOURS
Award winning HJ Banks choose bbs-tek to help reduce noise pollution
“For a Mineral Planning Authority, noise and dust considerations are of paramount importance when granting permissions for sites where enormous dumper trucks are constantly in motion, shuttling loads over relatively short distances. What will the impact be on nearby settlements?
Health and Safety awareness is crucial for operators on such sites. Reversing is a particularly dangerous manoeuvre and has a long history of tragic accidents. Until now the only effective warning to those in the vehicle's path has been the high pitched bleep, seriously annoying to residents for miles around.
On May 26th 2005, at Blagdon Hall, Northumberland, the Noise Abatement Society presented Harry Banks with a special award for innovation in noise reduction. As well as achieving efficient dust suppression on the diggers, his engineers have fitted extensive engine and exhaust insulation to standard Caterpillar dumptrucks, achieving a 15 decibel reduction at full revs. The investment of over a million pounds has paid off in national recognition.
The 200ton payload dump trucks used for the demonstration manoeuvred backwards, forwards and sideways. The unmodified Caterpillar roared, the Banks Cat purred. The icing on the cake was when the vehicle reversed. No longer a piercing bleep but a kind of insistent hiss, only audible to those within the danger zone directly behind the vehicle.
HJ Banks had looked to Brigade Electronics to solve that particular noise nuisance problem. The solution came from the use of Broadband Sound, trade name bbs-tek. All of this was hugely impressive to us members of the Planning committee well used to fielding justified complaints from residents living near mineral sites.
Maybe, by following best practice, mineral developers can be good neighbours after all.”
Councillor Paul Kelly
Chairman of Planning and Regulation
Northumberland County Council
