Preparation noise maps of cities: Bolu case study

Any kind of sound emerging in irregular and inharmonious ways that is disturbing is called noise. Noise has been reported to result in deafness as well as neurological and mental disorders. Also, noise has been determined to lead to sleep disorder, stress, and the impaired ability to do work. Protective measures to prevent the adverse physical, physiological and psychological effects should be put in practice. Therefore, hotspots where thresholds are passed in terms of every group of sources of noise (highway, railway, industry and entertainment) need to be established to develop noise control strategies. In this study, in the places delimited by the service domain of Bolu Municipality, impact analyses were conducted on the basis of source by the creation of integrated strategic maps of noise. In so doing, SoundPLAN was utilized. For validation of models, 12 point measurements were used. Measurements were made using Swan 958 A instrument. According to results obtained for the period of 24 h (Lgag), the following areas were adversely affected with the following noise levels: (1) 2.8 km2 with ≥ 75 dB(A) including 1.400 households, 1 school, and 6.500 residents, (2) 2.8 km2 with 70-74 dB(A) including 1.700 households, 14 schools, 7 hospitals, and 8.400 residents, (3) 4.5 km2 with 65-69 dB(A) including 2.200 households, 14 schools, 6 hospitals, and 6.700 residents, (4) 7.3 km2 with 60-64 dB(A) including 2.600 households, 30 schools, 8 hospitals, and 10.100 residents, (5) 11 km2 with 55-59 dB(A) including 5.600 households, 42 schools, 4 hospitals, and 22.700 residents, (6) 16 km2 with 50-54 dB(A) including 8.800 households, 46 schools, 2 hospitals, and 35.000 residents.