And as a result, market leading noise reduction barrier company Echo Barrier is urging all contractors to plan noise reduction solutions into their site management plans to avoid such high levels of complaints as demonstrated in the programme titled: "The Motorway – Life in the fast lane.”

Viewers saw the frustrations of local residents, Jim and Alan, come to boiling point when overnight roadworks and the excessive noise caused by them became too much. With pressures to finish the road upgrades on time and get the country moving again, the contractor in charge planned overnight works into their schedule, causing great inconvenience to local people.

The documentary showed Jim and Alan, far from willing to accept an apology for the inconvenience, and requesting to be put up in accommodation. The duo were fed up of sleep deprivation due to the noisiness of the works, with Jim fuming: “you start seeing orange lights flashing and at 3 and 4 in the morning it’s disco time”. For the last six years, there has been a succession of roadworks on this stretch of the motorway resulting in a string of complaints from local residents.
For Alan, the noise of the roadworks outside his home is 'like a war game' and he admitted his thoughts have turned to requesting the assistance of his local MP. Jim has even taken the extreme measure of arming himself with a decibel meter to record the sound levels as proof of how bad it is.

Peter Wilson from Echo Barrier, the company which provides temporary noise reduction barrier for use on construction sites and road maintenance projects, was disappointed to see that no noise reduction solutions had been planned in as part of the site management, and local people were having to suffer. “Noise reduction can be relatively straightforward and cost effective” he said. “Our products have been used for projects such as track maintenance on the London Underground, for utilities works in town centres and on high profile construction sites, and they’ve allowed contractors to work through unsociable hours with minimal and often no complaints. “In this day and age of the ‘complaint culture’ there really is no excuse for contractors who don’t take the necessary measures to reduce noise and inconvenience on local people. I

t has been scientifically proven that exposure to excessive noise can not only cause stress and sleep deprivation but can cause other, longer term health problems. “We’d be delighted to speak with the main contractor and the highways agency to put some barriers in place throughout the roadwork schedule and reduce some of the impact the noise is having on people like Alan and Jim.”

The Echo Barriers provide a sound mitigation system that absorbs noise. They are completely safe to handle and feature night reflectors for after dark working.   The Echo Barriers have a rugged PVC exterior and are completely weather resistant. They are lightweight and easy to handle (13 lbs) therefore taking limited manpower and time to install and making them easy to move around a site wherever attenuation is required. Barriers can also be designed to include the logo and branding of the company using them.

Echo Barriers are available for both hire and purchase and once installed provide an immediate solution to excessive noise. They were recently recognised by the Institute of Acoustics and Noise Abatement Society at their annual awards.

For more information about echo barrier visit www.echobarrier.co.uk