Sound walls, or noise barriers, are structures designed to buffer noise resulting from construction activity and help reduce the inconvenience to our neighbours. Installing temporary sound walls is a common measure to protect residents impacted by large construction projects. Trans Mountain uses sound walls to abide by our regulatory (CER) requirements. In November of last year, a sound wall was installed inside Burnaby Terminal to reduce the impact of noise from our construction activities at the terminal.

Two additional sites have been identified for sound wall installation near our terminals in Burnaby, BC. The first at our Westridge Marine Terminal and the other at our Burnaby Terminal. Pending the receipt of required approvals, we plan to install temporary sound walls on City land adjacent to our terminals to further reduce the impact from construction activities for our neighbours.

The locations were determined through analysis by Trans Mountain’s acoustic contractor, with the goal to reduce noise to the extent practicable. This is part of our overall construction impact mitigation initiatives at our Terminals. Once sound walls are installed, they will remain in place for the duration of construction activities in that area. The temporary sound walls are approximately 4 meters in height and are planned to be 150 metres long near Westridge Marine Terminal and the walls near Burnaby Terminal will be approximately 100 and 130 metres in length.

Burnaby Terminal
Westridge Marine Terminal

The installation of a sound wall on City of Burnaby property will generally be completed in the following sequence:

  • Temporary lane closures will be set up on affected roads
  • Sound wall supports will be installed
  • Sound wall bracing posts and sound barrier panel facing will be installed
  • Lane closures will then be removed

The style of sound wall that Trans Mountain plans to use outside of our Burnaby Terminal and Westridge Marine Terminal locations is shown below.