Road Traffic Noise Assessment at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Bakap, Sungai Bakap, Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

This study is intended on the assessment of traffic noise at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Bakap where this study area located near the main road (Jalan Sungai Bakap). The objectives of this study are to determine noise levels during school hours, to identify the source of noise and to establish the noise profiling in the Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Bakap environment. With using sound level meter instrument, the noise levels at school were measured where 19 points were selected at school area in order to collect the value of all parameters measured in this study (L_eq, L_max, L_min, L₁₀, L₅₀, and L₉₀). Each of the noise measurements was taken for 3 minutes in duration and the time taken for all measurements conducted from 8.30 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. Noise mapping performed using ArcMap and My maps website based on the latitude, longitude and also noise parameters. Manually traffic count was conducted to count the number of vehicles on the road. Traffic composition data in this study was categorized into four types, which passenger car and van, motorcycle, medium lorries and heavy lorries. The result showed that the measured noise levels at school area in term of L_eq were between the range of 54.8–72.9 dB(A), where it was found that the highest noise level generated was at road zones. From this study, all noise data collected exceeded the Malaysian noise limit. Apart from that, based on the noise mapping it showed that highest noise levels were located in traffic zones area.