EVALUATION OF NOISE LEVELS IN AL-NAJAF AL-ASHRAF STREETS, IRAQ

This study was conducted to determine the levels of noise pollution in the some main and secondary streets of Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf city for a period of 7 months, starting from February 2012 until October of the same year. Twenty five street s were selected for study and the measures were conducted at three sites, at the beginning, middle and end of each street and compared the average with allowable limits. Measurements are usually conducted during work time from 7:00am until 12:00 am. The study showed that the average of sound intensity for all study sites had exceeded the limits permitted by the World Health Organization w ithin a item commercial areas and administrative center of the city for the period fr om 7:00 until 18:00 which was 55-65 dB, the results showed that higher value of sound intensity during the study period was 79.3 dB in the Najaf ? Karbala main street while lower value for the sound intensity was 71.3 dB in the of Abu Taleb district Street.