Experimental Investigation of Underwater Noise Generation Mechanism During Pile Driving

Offshore wind power has been currently attracting attention as part of the efforts of Sustainable Development Goals, and the cumulative installed capacity worldwide has increased more than 10-fold in the last decade. As the world’s energy sources shift from fossil to renewable energy, the increase of construction of offshore structures associated with marine development will likely generate undesirable underwater noise that is harmful to marine life living near construction sites. To reduce underwater noise and improve the marine acoustic environment, this study clarifies the generation mechanism and propagation behavior of underwater noise by pile driving and discusses how to reduce such noise.