Winter Newsletter 2019-2020

Winter Newsletter 2019-2020

Company Holiday Gala

The Polar Plunge

In this issue

p2- The Holiday Gala
p3- Open Enrollment
p4- TeleDoc Info
p5- Birthdays
p6- Anniversaries
p7- Giving back
p8- Thanksgiving Potluck
p9- Happy Holidays
p10- White Elephant
p11- Capital Beltway Accord
p12- The BBB
p13- Noise (Article)

Rinker Design Associates

Company

Holiday Gala

Date:Saturday Jan, 25th, 2020

Where: The Oceanaire in VA Beach

This will be a family-friendly function!
we are hopeful you will be able to

participate in this event as we make it
one to remember! you will receive your

official invitation will soon.

Open Enrollment for
INnOsuWra!!!nceDiosehsavyeoucrovfearmaiglye?

Open Enrollment (OE) meetings will be held 11/20 at 2pm, and again
11/21 at 12pm noon. The OE period will run from 11/21-12/13.
If you have any additional questions, please contact Carol.



December

Birthdays

3-Rick DeLong
4- Carol Axberg
4- Lindsey Parmenter
4- Brian Conners
4- Dina Hana
8- Angely Jomuad
9- Griffin Peters
11- Heather Hackley
16- David Wise
19- James Kerby
23- Maggie Shelton
24- Kevin Cloninger
25- John Giometti

January

Birthdays

February 1- Ralph Panlaqui
3- Ian Little
Birthdays 6- Rahima Baz
13- Austin Brascher
3- Matt Lessard 21- Rita Owens
7- Kevin Keast 22- Mariah Safritt
8- Aaron King 23- Cole Jamison
11- Hunter Wolz 23- Brandon Shock
18- Jimmy Street 26- Matt Beales
27- Connor Eggleston

HBairpttpohydyaouy!!!

John Rose 12/4 1995 1992 Jeff Powell 12/6
2005
Dave Snider 1/16 LaVerne Smith-
2006 Sanford 2/8
Daniel Hovey 1/9 2007
Tim Freeland 1/2 Luan Taci 1/22
John Spittle 1/27 2012 Darell Fischer 2/20
Patty Nalley 2/18 2013 Jeremy Karls 2/26

Dina Hana 12/4 2014 John Giometti 1/7
2015 John Myers 1/7
Rahima Baz 2/4
2017 Peter O'Donnell 1/5
2018 Matt Lessard 1/12
Connor Clements
2019 1/26

Kevin Larios 1/2
Jordan Queen 1/3
Griffin Peters 1/22
Brian Conners 2/12
Tony Griffith 2/20

Kevin Cloninger
12/17

Have a giving heart??

Gather your old clothes,
particularly anything warm,
and bring it into
RDA! We will make
sure it gets into
the right hands by
donating it all to a
local homeless shelter.

Company Thanksgiving

Potluck

Mark your calendar!
This Friday, November 22nd,
our Manassas Office will celebrate
Thanksgiving with a company potluck

at 2:30pm!

Please add your name and the item you plan to bring to the sign up sheet in Maggie's
office to assure we have a diverse menu. Also, please be sure that it can fit in the

microwave if it needs to be reheated, and provide a serving utensil as well. Thanks!!

We wish you all a beautiful Holiday
and safe travels!

-From Your Friends at RDA

White Elephant
Gift Exchange

On Friday, Dec 20th, those who choose to participate by bringing in
a gift will get to take part in our White Elephant gift exchange! The
gift price limit is $20. Each person who brings a gift will receive an

"ornament" to hang on our "tree." All gifts must be turned in no
later than Wednesday, December 18th. You will only be able to join

the festivities if you, yourself, have brought in a gift to exchange.

MD Governor Hogan and
VA Governor Northam Announce

Capital Beltway Accord

Last week's historic announcement, the Capital Beltway Accord, will modernize the Beltway
by adding lanes to the American Legion Bridge. This project is designed to lower commuting
time for drivers, reduce congestion in regular lanes by 25 percent, provide 40% more lane
capacity over the American Legion Bridge while including bicycle and pedestrian paths
across the Potomac River. Maryland will take the lead and add 2 lanes in each direction,
with a bike-pedestrian lane. This new structure will have 8 general purpose lanes, and 2
express lanes in both directions. The project will be financed by a P3 model and they hope
to break ground by 2022.

"We are excited to see this project moving forward, making way for Maryland commuters
and all who travel on the Interstate 495 corridor. It is well documented that we need this
congestion relief,” says Greg Andricos, MTBMA Chairman and President/COO of Wagman
Heavy Civil.

“A new bridge means commuters will get to work
and back home faster. Our teams have identified a
way to fix one of the worst traffic hot spots in the

country." VA Governor Ralph Northam

"Together with our partners in Virginia, we are
building a foundation for even greater economic
growth, greater opportunity for our citizens, and

advancing real, lasting, transformative
improvements for the entire Washington
Metropolitan region.” MD Governor Larry Hogan

Governor Hogan and Governor Northam meet to discuss
the Capital Beltway Accord.

https://mtbma.org/

What does it mean to
be BBB Accredited?

Mission Vision

BBB’s mission BBB's vision is
is to be the an ethical
leader in
advancing marketplace
marketplace where buyers
trust.
and sellers
can trust each

other.

What are the perks? The BBB offers dispute resolution and will
provide these services on your behalf
You have legal right to the dynamic should you have an unhappy customer
BBB Seal The business goes through a vetting
You get a plaque to display in your process to make sure there are no claims
place of business or legal disputes against the company.
Prospective clients can find you by This provides clients with the reassurance
searching phrases and key words that you practice good business
They email you monthly tracking Customers can use the "Request a Quote"
inquiries and statistics button straight from the BBB website
You can upload any material including You can write off all accreditation dues on
pictures and videos to your profile your taxes
Your online affiliation with the BBB
will increase your SEO value
There is a hyperlink connected
straight to your website

RDA now has a profile with the BBB; however, we are not currently an
accredited business -- https://www.bbb.org/us/va/manassas/profile/civil-

engineer/rinker-design-associates-pc-0241-236041721

noISe bY toNy deAN

If you didn't know, RDA has been providing
technical noise analyses for federally funded
highway projects since 2006. Beginning with the
Route 15 Design-Build project from Dominion
Valley to Graduation Drive in Haymarket, we have
been a part of at least 16 noise studies including
those for recent design-build projects such as I-
66 Inside the Beltway Widening, I-66/Route 15
Interchange Reconstruction, and I-64 Capacity
Improvements - Segment 2. We have several
individuals certified in Fundamentals of Highway
Traffic Noise and proficient in the use of the
Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Traffic
Noise Model (TNM). To provide a better
understanding of what we do, below is a quick
synopsis of the overall concept and design
process. This article is part of a two-part series.

noise

/noiz/

...unwanted sound perceived
to be harsh, unpleasant,
and disruptive

Noise is often defined as unwanted sound perceived to be harsh,
unpleasant, and disruptive. In physics, noise is indistinguishable
from sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or
water. Airborne sound occurs by a rapid fluctuation of air pressure above
and below atmospheric pressure. When the brain receives the sound, the
perception can be different depending upon who receives it. What may be
irritating to one person may be tolerable to another. We have all seen an
example of this on the television show Live PD when a neighbor calls the
police complaining about the party next door.As for transportation projects,
most sounds originate from two types of sources: point or line. Point source
is a stationary source, such as a horn, while a line source example would be
the sounds from a highway facility. Sound pressure levels are usually
measured and expressed in decibels (dB). The decibel scale is logarithmic and
expresses the ratio of the sound pressure unit being measured to a standard
reference level.

Most sounds occurring in the environment do not consist of a single
frequency, but rather a broad band of differing frequencies. The intensities of
each frequency add to generate sound. Because the human ear does not
respond to all frequencies equally, the method commonly used to quantify
environmental noise consists of evaluating all the frequencies of a sound
according to a weighting system. It has been found that the A-weighted filter
on a sound level meter, which includes circuits to differentially measure
selected audible frequencies, best approximates the frequency response of
the human ear.

Although the A-weighted noise level may adequately indicate the level of
environmental noise at any instant in time, community noise levels vary continuously.
Most environmental noise includes a conglomeration of noise from distant sources,
creating a relatively steady background noise in which no particular source is
identifiable. To describe the time-varying character of traffic noise, a statistical noise
descriptor called the equivalent hourly sound level, or Leq (h), is commonly used. Leq
(h) describes a noise modeling receptor’s cumulative exposure from all noise-
producing events over a one-hour period. Because decibels are logarithmic units,
sound levels cannot be added by ordinary arithmetic means.

The following general relationships provide a basic understanding of sound generation

and propagation: doubling the distance
between a highway and
a 3dB sound level increase is receptor will produce a 3dB
barely detectable by the
human ear sound level decrease

traffic traveling at 65 mph an increase in 10
sounds twice as loud as dB(A) is considered
traffic at 30 mph twice as loud to the

average listener

An increase, or decrease, of a decrease in 10dB is
10dB will be perceived by a considered half as loud
receptor to be a doubling, or doubling of the sound source
halving, of the sound level increases noise levels by 3dB, which
is barely perceptible - 2,000 vehicles
per hour are twice as loud as 200

vehicles per hour

DID YOU KNOW...

...a quiet night at 20dB ... ticking watch
home is around 25dB ... light snoring
40dBA, while 38dB ... dishwasher
running your

vacuum cleaner is
about 70dB?

40dB ... moderate snoring

55dB ... crickets/tree frogs

instant hearing 75dB ... bird sound
damage 90dB ... lawnmower
90-100dB ... power tools
typically occurs 120-140dB ... B747 takeoff
around 165dB ... shotgun blast

140dB

Nonetheless, the perception of noise may be different between individuals.
FHWA has defined what is considered "noise impacted." These regulations
along with VDOT’s Noise Abatement Policy are used to evaluate our client’s
roadway projects.

The Noise Control Act of 1972 gives the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) the authority to establish noise regulations to control major noise

noISesources, including motor vehicles and construction equipment. The National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 gives broad authority and
responsibility to Federal agencies to evaluate and mitigate adverse
environmental impacts caused by Federal actions. FHWA is required to
comply with NEPA including mitigating adverse highway traffic noise effects.
The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1970 mandates FHWA to develop standards
for mitigating highway traffic noise. It also requires FHWA to establish traffic
noise level criteria for distinct types of land uses. The Act prohibits FHWA
approval of federal-aid highway projects unless adequate consideration has
been made for noise abatement measures to comply with the standards.
FHWA regulations for highway traffic noise for federal-aid highway projects
are contained in 23 CFR 772.

The regulations contain noise abatement criteria, which represent the
maximum acceptable level of highway traffic noise for specific types of land
uses. The regulations do not mandate that the abatement criteria be met in
all situations, but rather require that reasonable and feasible efforts be made
to provide noise mitigation when the abatement criteria are approached or
exceeded.

The noise abatement criteria (NAC) are the noise levels at which a property
is considered to be “impacted” by roadway noise. Residential properties are
category B. The Virginia State Noise Abatement Policy has adopted the NAC
that have been established by FHWA (23 CFR 772) for determining traffic
noise impacts for a variety of land uses. The NAC, listed below for various
activities, represent the upper limit of acceptable traffic noise conditions

ACTIVITY Lcn F O R L O U D E S T DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITY
CATEGORY TRAFFIC HOUR
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A 57 (Exterior) pPhoaicrsnkpisict,aarelrsesiadse,nreccerse,amtiootnelasr,ehaost,eplsla, ysgchroouonlsd,sc,haucrtcivheessp, loibrtrsaraireesa, sa,nd
B 67 (Exterior)
C
D 72 (Exterior) DCaetveeglooprieeds AlaonrdBs,apbroopveerties, or activities not included in
E
Undeveloped lands

52 (Interior) Rcheusirdcehnecse, lsi,bmraoriteesls, ,hhoostpeiltsa,lps,uabnlidcamuedeittoinrigurmoos ms, schools,

and also a balancing of that which may be desirable with that which may be achievable. The
NAC applies to areas having regular human use and where lowered noise levels are desired.
They do not apply to the entire tract of land on which the activity is based, but only to that
portion where the activity takes place.

The NAC is given in terms of the hourly, A-weighted, equivalent sound level in decibels
(dBA). The noise impact assessment is made using the guidelines listed. The figure shown
above are the categories and activities defined by FHWA.

Traffic noise impacts occur if either of the following two conditions are met:
The predicted traffic noise levels (future design year) approach or exceed the NAC. If
design year noise levels “approach or exceed” the NAC, then the activity is impacted,
and a series of abatement measures must be considered.

The predicted traffic noise levels are substantially higher than the existing noise
levels. The VDOT State Noise Abatement Policy defines a substantial noise increase
as when predicted highway traffic exterior noise levels exceed existing noise levels
by 10 dBA or more. For example, if a receptor’s existing noise level is 50 dBA, and if
the future noise level is 60 dBA, then it would be considered an impact. The noise
levels of the substantial increase impact do not have to exceed the appropriate NAC.
Receptors that satisfy this condition warrant consideration of highway traffic noise
abatement.

If traffic noise impact is identified within the project corridor, then consideration of noise
abatement measures is necessary. The final decision on whether or not to provide noise
abatement along a project corridor will consider the feasibility of the design and overall
weighted against the environmental benefit.

Abatement consideration will be explained in Part 2.