Work is continuing at a feverish pace at the two main Burnaby sites for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
This includes work at the Westridge Marine Terminal site on Burrard Inlet. In an effort to try and reduce the noise heard by area residents, Trans Mountain has erected a series of noise walls like the one pictured with this story.
But Burnaby Mountain resident Aaron Keogh says this work includes a “continuous thumping sound” of pile driving that the noise walls are not stopping.
“Pile drivers, when they operate at the Westridge terminal site, make a continuous thumping sound that repeats, over and over, for roughly between 10 to 30 minutes straight, often several sessions per day, when they operate,” he said.
“There's also a vibration that you can press your hands on the walls of your house and feel reverberate throughout the place. I don't think this so-called sound barrier is going to make enough of a difference, when the vibrations radiate through the walls of my house and others in the area.”
The NOW reached out to Trans Mountain about the walls that have been erected on Bayview Drive.
“These panels are temporary sound walls to help reduce noise created by construction,” said an emailed statement. “We installed our first temporary sound wall at Burnaby Terminal in November 2019. Two additional sites were then identified for sound wall installation near our terminals. Neighbours were encouraged to provide feedback through conversations and consultations for the temporary sound walls near the Westridge Marine Terminal and Burnaby Terminal January – March 2020. Some of the feedback provided was that they wanted them to be more camouflaged into the natural surroundings. These panels are often beige in other construction sites. Once construction in the area is finished, the sound walls will be removed.”
