Patent Abstract:
The inventive subject matter describes systems and methods for the implementation of an aquatic acoustical barrier, the aquatic acoustical barrier having a multiplicity of acoustical layers, the acoustical layers further having a multiplicity of acoustical leafs, such that when the acoustical barrier surrounds a noise source in the water there is an attenuation created by the noise source.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 61/333,559, filed on May 3, 2010, the contents herein incorporated into this application by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present inventive subject matter relates to the systems and methods Systems and Methods for the Reduction of Underwater Acoustical Noise 
     The protection and preservation of natural resources includes the management of fish and game. Fish move about lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs for a variety of reasons, including migration, spawning, and searching for food. Furthermore, some fish species have such small populations that they are protected either under State or Federal laws (e.g. the endangered species act). 
     During the construction of roads it is sometimes necessary to drive pilings or other support structures into lakes, streams, and/or marshes. The driving of these pilings or other structures into the water creates acoustical vibrations. These vibrations can be of sufficient power to either injure or kill fish or other aquatic animals that are in the proximity to the vibrations. The issue of effect of sound underwater, known as bioacoustics, is of sufficient concern that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the departments of transportation for Oregon and Washington, and the Federal Highways Administration have formed groups to study the impact on fisheries due to in-water pile driving. 
     Prior art acoustical mitigation devices include air bubble curtains, cofferdams, isolation casings, and cushion blocks. Air bubble curtains employ a bubble screen to reduce sound pressure. The drawbacks for bubble screens are the limited reduction in acoustical pressure. Cofferdams have greater acoustical reduction, but, are expensive to install and remove. Isolation casings have the drawback of less attenuation than cofferdams. Lastly, cushion blocks are placed in-between the hammer and the pile (in the case of pile driving). Cushion blocks likewise have limited attenuation properties as compare to cofferdams. 
     Therefore, there is a need to have a aquatic acoustical barrier proximate to underwater construction in general and near pile driving in particular. This barrier should have low cost, use readily available materials, and be easy to install and extract, and provide limited damage to the water environment. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present inventive subject matter overcomes problems in the prior art by providing for systems and methods of an aquatic acoustical barrier, the aquatic acoustical barrier having a multiplicity of acoustical layers, the acoustical layers further having a multiplicity of acoustical leafs, such that when the acoustical barrier surrounds a noise source in the water there is an attenuation created by the noise source. The aquatic acoustical barrier also has the acoustical leaves closely touching or overlapping. The aquatic acoustical barrier also has an acoustical layer that is contiguous or semi-contiguous. The aquatic acoustical barrier also having said acoustical leafs which have a leaf connector, a leaf closure, and a leaf container. The aquatic acoustical barrier also having a leaf connector that consists of bolts, screws, or hooks and/or a pair of parallel plates. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the parallel plates are screwed together so that the parallel plates form a seal on the leaf container. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf closure is constructed from a pair of parallel plates and the parallel plates are be sealed by spaced latches. The aquatic acoustical barrier wherein the leaf container is made from natural fiber fabrics, plastics, reinforced paper, metals, laminates, or any combination thereof. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is constructed from a permeable bag. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is constructed from a watertight bag. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is filled with a hydro acoustic absorbing material. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is filled with sand. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is filled with lava aggregate. The aquatic acoustical barrier where the leaf container is filled with materials selected from a group comprising polystyrene foam balls, and small rubber balls. The aquatic acoustical barrier where each successive acoustical layer are slightly larger in size to form a “cone shaped” structure. 
     A method for the reduction of acoustical noise of pile driving having the steps of surrounding a pile by an aquatic acoustical barrier, said aquatic acoustical barrier further having a multiplicity of acoustical layers, the acoustical layers further having a multiplicity of acoustical leafs, such that when the pile driver is in use the noise source is attenuated. The method where the reduction of acoustical noise includes the steps of using an acoustical absorbing material in the acoustical leaf. 
     The foregoing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of embodiments and features of the present inventive subject matter. Persons skilled in the art are capable of appreciating other embodiments and features from the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of the inventive subject matter. 
         FIG. 2  is a close of view of the acoustical leaf. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the inventive subject matter. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the use of the inventive subject matter during the process of reducing acoustical noise. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of a support bracket used to support the layer 
     
    
    
     REFERENCE CHARACTERS 
       100 —Aquatic Acoustical Barrier 
       110 —Acoustical Leaf 
       120 —Acoustical Layer 
       210 —Leaf Connector 
       220 —Leaf Closure 
       230 —Leaf Container 
       310 —Layer Support 
       320 —Layer Guide 
       330 —Inner Layer Support 
       410 —Pile 
       420 —Pile Driver 
       430 —Unattenuated Aquatic Acoustical Noise 
       440 —Attenuated Aquatic Acoustical Noise 
       450 —Injured Fish 
       460 —Non Injured Fish 
       510 —Lifting Bracket 
       520 —Lifting Connector 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Representative embodiments according to the inventive subject matter are shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , wherein similar features share common reference numerals. 
       FIG. 1  depicts a front view of the aquatic acoustical barrier  100 . The aquatic acoustical barrier  100 . The aquatic acoustical barrier  100  has an external surface and an internal surface, where an object that is desired to be protected is placed on one side of the aquatic acoustical barrier  100  from the noise source that is located on the other side. 
     The aquatic acoustical barrier  100  is composed of a series of closely touching or overlapping acoustical leafs  110 . As shown, the acoustical leafs  110  are positioned proximate to each other, and designed to form a contiguous and/or semicontiguous structure, an acoustical layer  120 . The acoustical layer  120  is configured so that multiple acoustical layers may be “stacked” such that varying vertical heights can be constructed. 
       FIG. 2  depicts a front view of the acoustical leaf  110 . The acoustical leaf  110  is composed of a leaf connector  210 , a leaf closure  220 , and a leaf container  230 . The leaf connector  210  may be made from any type of connecting materials, such as, bolts, screws, hooks, etc. The leaf closure  220  may be constructed from pair of parallel plates that are screwed together that forms a seal on the leaf container  230 . Alternately, the leaf closure  220  may be sealed by spaced latches such that material placed into the leaf container  230  does not escape. The leaf container  230  can be constructed from a permeable and watertight bag made out of such materials as natural fiber fabrics, plastics, reinforced paper, metals, laminates, or any combination thereof. 
     The leaf container  230  is design to accommodate materials that attenuate underwater noise. Furthermore, the materials should be of a substance that does not readily leach into the water. Such materials could be sand, aggregates, polystyrene foam balls, small rubber balls, etc. or any combination thereof. 
       FIG. 3  demonstrates one embodiment of the layer support  310 . The acoustical leafs  110  are attached to the layer support  310  to form the acoustical layer  120 . The acoustical layers  120  can be contiguous in nature and/or semicontiguous. The acoustical layers  120  can be stacked on each other. Furthermore, it is not necessary that each acoustical layer be identical, for example, each successive acoustical layer  120  may be slightly larger, to form a “cone shaped” structure. 
     Internal to the layer support  310  may be layer guides  320  to provide additional support to the layer support  310  and to provide alignment. Furthermore, an inner layer support  330  may be added to provide additional support. 
     Multiple layer supports  310 , can be constructed such that each support  310  surrounds the other. For example, the first multiple layer support  310  may be positioned to 1 meter from the piling, and a second layer support may be positioned 1 meter outwards from the first layer support. 
       FIG. 4  depicts the inventive subject matter in actual use. The aquatic acoustical barrier  100  surrounds a pile  410  and a pile driver  420 . The use of the pile driver  420  results in unattenuated aquatic acoustical noise  430 A where the pile  410  is not surrounded and attenuated aquatic acoustical noise  430 B where the pile driver  420  is surrounded by the acoustical barrier  100 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts a possible lifting support mechanism. A lifting bracket  510  is connected to a lifting connector  520  which is then connected to the acoustical barrier. 
     Persons skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications and variations are possible in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts and actions which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this inventive concept and that such modifications and variations do not depart from the spirit and scope of the teachings and claims contained therein. 
     All patent and non-patent literature cited herein is hereby incorporated by references in its entirety for all purposes.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8