Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Have you heard about Tacoma Narrows Bridge?

The original Tacoma Narrows Bridge was opened to traffic on July 1, 1940. It was located in Washington State, near Puget Sound. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was the third-longest suspension bridge in the United States at the time, with a length of 5939 feet including approaches. Its two supporting towers were 425 feet high. The towers were 2800 feet apart.

Strong winds caused the bridge to collapse on November 7, 1940. Initially, 35 mile per hour winds excited the bridge's transverse vibration mode, with an amplitude of 1.5 feet. This motion lasted 3 hours.
The wind then increased to 42 miles per hour. In addition, a support cable at mid-span snapped, resulting in an unbalanced loading condition. The bridge response thus changed to a 0.2 Hz torsional vibration mode, with an amplitude up to 28 feet.

The main point I want to state here, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse due to vibration. Now we know how vibration can effect us right?

Lets Move to HSE point of view. In this post I want to discuss about Control of Noise and Vibration Pollution.

Firstly I want to define Noise itself. Noise is unwanted sound that causes nuisance. Types of noise includes accoustic, audio and electronic noise. Besides being nuisance to the public, noise together with high amplitude vibrations from certain activities such as blasting of rocks during quarrying can cause damage to infrastructures such as roads and buildings.

Vibration is an oscillatory motion of a solid body causes by forces applied onto it.

Main sources of noise and vibration pollution includes :
1) Incompatible land use development due to time and economy factor
2) Roads/ Railways/ Airports
3) Industrial activities
4) Construction of buildings/ infrastructures
5) Commercial and entertainment centres
6) Quarrying activities

Effect of Noise and Vibration Pollution
1) Nuisance
2) Risk of hearing impairment
3) Communication interference

Effect of Vibration Pollution
1) Damage of infrastructure
2) Risk of buildings
3) Structure to collapse

So guys, you already provide you with this information. Its time for us to take note and aware about noise and vibration pollution. Take action! See you later :)