Acoustic Emissions Due to Offshore Piling — Field Measurements at an Offshore Wind Energy Construction Site

As a result of impact pile driving, which is frequently used to install pile foundations of offshore wind turbines, considerable hydro sound pressure levels are emitted into the sea. The acoustic noise emissions influence or even damage the sense of hearing of marine mammals. That leads to the need of noise mitigation techniques, which are in fact not state-of-the-art. This paper presents the design of an extensive field measurement campaign including the measuring of pile dynamics, soil vibrations and hydro sound levels, which was planned and realized at the construction site of the offshore wind farm BARD Offshore 1 in the German Bight. Validation of physical models is intended with the gathered data.