Noise is one of the key issues for planning applications of hockey pitches for sites close to residential areas. The main noise sources during a hockey match include shouting, whistles and hockey balls hitting backboards; the ball hitting backboards usually generates the loudest noise levels and is also the source of most concern for the environmental Health Department to avoid complaints. The most effective way of mitigating the impact noise is mounting resilient materials on the backboards. However, there are no accurate measurements available in the public domain to provide inputs to quantify the sound power level of a ball hitting the backboard. To fill this gap, measurements for hockey balls hitting backboards covered by different materials were undertaken. Noise levels from at least 12 different resilient materials combined from one to five layers mounting on the backboards were measured. Mounting one no. layer of commonly used turf on the backboards hardly provides any mitigation. As a result of fixing 3 no. layers on the backboards, around 10 dB reduction may be achieved. The measurements are presented to offer a detailed look-up table for how many layers of turf are required to achieve a specific noise reduction target.
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