Assessing underwater sound during impact pile driving of steel pipe and steel shell piles with and without bubble curtain attenuation in the San Francisco Bay Area

摘要

Sound produced during impact pile driving has the potential to affect aquatic life in the waters surrounding the construction activity. There are multiple mitigation methods with the aim of attenuating sound from pile driving and this assessment focuses on the relatively cost-effective unconfined bubble curtain method. Hydroacoustic measurements during construction events unattenuated and attenuated with a bubble curtain have produced varying results. To better determine the effectiveness of bubble curtains, this data assessment is limited to impact pile driving events of steel pipe or steel shell piles, mostly in depths of water from 5 to 15 meters. In assessing the hydroacoustic data collected during impact pile driving for different projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, while bubble curtains were both on and off, the effectiveness of bubble curtain attenuation systems are presented in this paper.