Last week the Isle of Wight council announced the Cowes Floating Bridge would be returning to full service, following the reduced operating hours put in place by the Isle of Wight council last year due to excessive noise levels (see background).
Several residents have claimed the noise levels on Floating Bridge 6 are still very high, and given the return of crossings between 5am and 1.25am, OnTheWight posed several questions to the Isle of Wight council in an attempt to determine whether all the necessary action has been taken to mitigate a variety of issues.
Latest noise assessment
Q: Has a noise assessment been made by the Environmental Health Officer since work was carried out to mitigate the noise levels that were found to be above the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines?
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council replied,
“There have been no formal reports but there have been visits and a test during this period (10 May), completed by Sharlands noise and vibration specialists in conjunction with the Environmental Health Officer, the purpose of which was to identify noise remedial work to be further carried out.”
The Floating Bridge Stakeholders Group tell OnTheWight they’ve been unable get the Council to confirm they’ve done measurements where the previous WHO-violating noise limits were taken, including inside the homes next to the floating bridge.
What work has been carried out?
Q: Please detail what work has been carried out and what impact each of those pieces of work have had in reducing noise levels.
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council replied,
“The work is still ongoing, but the noise levels have been reduced by the dampening material (Trellex) on the prow.
“Further work to the fingers on the prow is being investigated to further improve noise readings, as it was found the impact noise from the initial ramp lowering was (subjectively) very much quieter.
“It was hard to measure this with a sound level meter since there remains, fractionally before or after, the impact of the fingers on the concrete, which is why further work to the fingers to the prow is being investigated to further improve readings.”
Have the noise levels improved?
Q: What is the recorded variation of noise levels before the work was carried out and since?
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council replied,
“This has not been identified clearly at this stage due to variances in the testing from other background noise (see above).”
Chain issues
Q: What work has taken place to resolve the ongoing problems with the chains being too high at certain tides?
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council replied,
“Work is still ongoing in conjunction with Cowes Harbour Commission and a number of marine engineers.”
Background
The operating times of the ‘new’ floating bridge were forced to be reduced in July 2017 (8am-10.30pm) due to excessive noise levels – after the council’s own Environmental Health Officer reported them to be above the WHO guidelines.
Since then, the council tell us some work has taken place to mitigate the noise levels, but many residents (including highly experienced engineers), say not enough has been done and that many issues – such as the height of the chains – remain unresolved.
Curfew lifted
From this week (for Isle of Wight Festival) the bridge will operate between 5am and 1.25am from Thursday (21st) to Sunday (24th).
The 5am to 12.30am timetable will return on Monday 25th June.
