Surf wave parks - Assessing the sound of fun

Surf wave parks are an emerging commercial development that are increasingly being proposed to be built around Australia. When considering noise control they present large areas of water where substantial inertial masses are displaced in order to create surfable waves of heights, currently up to 2 m, that continuously break in sections of the water body area with a high frequency and long duration. Patron, traffic, plant and machinery noise are often misperceived by the public to be the main contributing noise sources, where long durational noise from resonance of air in the tube of the wave or cavitation of the bubbles created in the spilling or breaking process are dominant. Airborne generation of noise from breaking waves has been shown to be complex, containing tonal, modulating and broadband components, which are all additive when assessing noise dose. A case study is presented of a wave park proposal in Tompkins Park, Alfred Cove, Western Australia alongside the Swan River. This proposal has been controversial due to its placement next to a protected migratory water bird sanctuary, and the large number of noise sensitive receivers in the surrounding residential neighbourhood. Characteristics of wave noise are examined indicating placement and assessment problems relative to the location.