Banks make a bid for silence

"THE Banks Group have announced an initial investment of £1 million in a mobile plant noise-reduction programme, said to be the first of its kind in the country. The pioneering programme, which aims to reduce the noise made by dumptrucks and excavators at the company’s mining sites, follows an intensive research project in the US and research and field trials in the UK by Banks’ in-house designers and engineers."

"A successful pilot, which took place at Banks’ Delhi surface mine near Morpeth, has shown such significant levels of noise reduction that the programme will now be rolled out across the UK. The noise-reduction programme aims to reduce the noise on plant to below 80dB(A), thereby benefiting both local communities and plant operators."

"Before the programme began, Banks’ 100-tonne Cat 777 dumptrucks measured 95dB(A) at the front of the vehicle but this has now been reduced to 78dB(A). This is equivalent to a reduction of more than half of the volume of sound emitted."

"Mark Dowdall, environment manager at the Banks Group, said: ‘We have invested a great deal of resources in the design, engineering and implementation of modifications. Although we already have in place a number of measures on our sites to help reduce the impact on local communities, noise has always been a problem for sites close to residential properties, particularly in quiet rural areas. However, as we have already seen at Delhi, this programme will make a huge difference.’"

"Commenting on the results of the pilot programme, Philip Smith, local resident and chair of the Delhi Liaison Committee, congratulated the Banks Group for their effort and innovation and said the results would benefit neighbouring properties and set the standards for future operations."