Here's a sound engineer advice (I'm graduated in architectural acoustics) : rise a 3 meters mud bank around the base camp, plant native trees on it, you'll be free of noise. :)
@Conceição Reis 50 meters is not enough to duck 1500°C to a safe temperature. Actually if the wind blows in the direction of the house, even 500 meters should not be enough. Forest fires cross rivers and lakes as you should know...
@Conceição Reis Sorry, I made a mistake the comment above was answering another question about fires, sorry. Sound have a tendency to raise, like heat. If you install a 3 meters mud bank (surronding the free of bushes area), the noise will be stopped for the lower area, and the remaining noise will pass way over your head and your ears. Trees planted over the mud bank will stabilize it, with an effect on high frequencies. The low frequencies are the most difficult to duck.
@@axelSixtySix hello Axel, in this case, they are annoyed by low frequencies;, due to their distance from highway 1.5 Km the high frequencies are damped by the air absorption trees are nice to reduce high mid and high frequencies, but useless for low mid and low frequencies )and a 3 m High mud bank is far from being enough. the mud bank would need at least to be half the wavelengh for a specific frequency to start being efficient ( 20 Hertz = 17m of wavelengh for 20°Celcius and 343 m/s of sound speed propagation) this means that the mud bank would need to be at least 8.5 m high to start stoping this specific frequency ... I'd rather start trying to act directly close to the sound source and try to see if it's possible to do something near the highway so everybody in the surounding have benefits from this. Even if this solution looks untouchable, it's the one that will benefit to the most and. They also have to consider that ear due to it's tremendous sensitivity 0.00002 pa compared to the 100000 pa of ambiant presure will always try to ear something. Reduce the loudest source and you will start earing the lowest ones that become the loudest and so on and so forth .... ... The good news is that we can expect in a close future that trucks will become electric ones and that the noise they will generate will be only air flowing noise with higly reduced low frequencies. xav
I can empathise. I moved from central London to the countryside a few years ago. At first I was amazed by how quiet it was especially at night. Then like you discovered on parts of the land at various times of the year I could hear road noise. I was gutted and felt like my sanctuary was spoiled. I got over it though! And a I'm sure you will too. It's only natural to have this kind of reaction when this project means so much. Focus on the good stuff and the significance of the noise will fade. Keep up the awesome work
@@antoniodasilva1230 More a first world problem in my case! But you have to admit that if your dream is to get away it all and immerse in nature, road noise is kind of an issue.
@@jamesgibb9737 yeah but its not that bad like he is saying ive lived in New yorkfor 37 years and my house in Portugal is around 1000 yards away from IC1 and way more truck and cars than the place he is at hardly any noise only in the dead of night our mornings plus train noise in the foggy days it aint bad 😂😂😂
My thoughts exactly. Also... you have a highway within 1.5km. That means it’s easy to get there quickly and easily for visitors without getting lost on the way
Just plant a lot of native trees around the place so you can buffer the sound waves (just be patient on the growing, it will take time. It is what it is, is nature's pace).
Planting native trees? Which ones? The only big ones that keep perenial foliage are Oak cork tree and azinheiro (another oak) and they grow very slow, and arent the best option to grow a privacy and sound edje...better grow casuarinas, cedros and smaller bushes in the mix, like medronheiro. Maybe some native loureiro, althou its slow grow too... Anyway, 1,5km distance for sure isnt a big problem. And at that distance he would need to plant several rows for a km long to have some sound efect....1000 tree and bushes...even if they seed and propagate themselfs (or have a big offer) you still need to plant them...it a big work and a long time to wait...and they would need to have a big area cleaned (cleanning burned and regeow eucaliptos and thornes isnt easy nor cheap)... Just forget about that little noise...
The answer to your problem is calle a "Gabion". Basicaly a metal basket that you fill with stones, between 3-10cm in size, the more mixed the better to absorb different frequencies. You need something like a 30 cm thick "wall" of them in the direct line to the highway. Sound travels linearly, meaning you just need to follow the line between the place the noise comes from and the place you want silence. Trees don't absorb sound well, which is why you still here something. Putting up a "mud wall" like someone suggested alone will not work because sound travels as a wave which means you have diffraction. If you have a small rising bump the wave will go up the hill and also down on the other end. A gabion is literally a vertical wall absorbing and reflecting directly back, therefore no problems with diffraction.
A few other tips, now that I've watched all the videos so far... 1. Cover the soil where you planted the vegetables and fruit trees with wood chips as well, not just the pathways. The woodchips will provide cover to the soil, protecting it from erosion by the wind and the rain, and it will protect the soil from sunlight, preventing water from evaporating, which will keep the water in the soil, making it richer in nutrients and microorganisms. 2. Plant bamboo or other trees around the lake and the spring after cleaning around them so that they provide shade and prevent the sun from evaporating the water. The roots of the plants will also help keep the soil together, preventing erosion around the edges of the lake and spring. Look into waterbed preserving vegetation or something like that. 3. About the topic of this video, specifically the part where you talk about how you will spend the rest of your life in this place and spend a lot of work on it, you're absolutely right. Don't be afraid to decide to sell that place and choose another one better suited for your need, if that turns out to be the case. This is not perfectionism, its about efficiency. I aim tobuild a new city from scratch, and to me it seems much more efficient to do so in a piece of land that is completely flat, for instance. Anyway, just a reminder to keep an open mind to all possibilities. 4. Plant bamboo. This, by itself, is a great tip because bamboo is the second most useful plant we know of, with more than a thousand uses. There is a place in Portugal called "Bamboo Park" or something like that, which I visited once. Might be worth a visit. 5. As for water, there is a method of digging a well using a very easy to do it yourself tool, which consists of a metal tube that you use a saw to carve some spiky sharp teeth on one end, and to tie a rope on the other end, then you build a stand A ---- A and you pass the rope above the horizontal pole, when you pull the rope the metal tube comes up, and when you drop the rope the metal tube drops to the ground with the pointy teeth digging in the dirt, then you pull the rope and a lot of dirt comes inside the tube, remove the dirt and drop the metal tube inside the hole. This way you dig a cilindrical hole in the ground, which can go down 50 meters or more, until you find water. As the whole gets deeper you put PVC pipes inside to prevent dirt from falling inside. Search on youtube for videos on how to DIY wells, I find a lot of these videos but they are in portuguese (I'm from Brazil) but Rita can help there. 6. The rust in the equipment that was in the container may have come from seawater if the container was transported by sea, or it may have comefromthecontainer itself, which may have caught some rust prior to your using it and then passed that rust on the the equipment. In the latter case, it could be helpful to try and isolate the interior walls of the containers with somekind of paint or even physical barriers like sheets of plastic, wood, or adhesive film of some sort. 7. Search for and try to get in contact with other similar projects in the region. I know you visited Tamera already, but there may be other projects and people who are like minded and my provide with helpful insights and tips, like this couple for instance, who bought a 42 acre piece of land in central Portugal and have been living off-grid there for some time. They are english speakers too, so that's a plus: ruclips.net/video/2XYipa-vztk/видео.html 8. Make your own lake. You can dig a hole in the ground,in any shape, size and depth you want, then cover it's surface in a way that makes it water repellent, and then fill it with water (or way for the rain to do it). Antoher thing you could do is to build a roof structure above the containers that could be covered in solar panels (or that can futurely support solar panels) but that also collects rain water, and then you can make it so that the rain water flows into the lake you dug, or it goes into gallons and barrels, and when they are full the excess water flows to the lake. If the lake you already have is not fit for drinking, just build one that is. And even if it is, it would be a fun project to do. As to how to properly cover the surface of the whole, just search youtube for "how to make a pond" videos, or "how to buld natural pool" videos because these also show plants and techniques to keep the water clean without the use of chlorine, which you complain about in the pool video 9. If you decide to go the off-grid route in terms of electricity, or even if you want to further test it out, another good project would be to build a wind power generator, because the parts (helices) could be made with recycled plastic. I know that the workshop is still without electricity, but there are some models of wind turbines made with recycled plastic that don't require shredding the plastic, like vertical axis wind turbines where the helices are just large plastic barrels cut in half vertically. Another idea that might be fun and possbilliy low cost. To make it as low cost as possible, and more viable without the workshop on, I suggest searching youtube videos for "low cost VAWT" or something like that. 10. Study the place. Learn from the "mistake" of not having studied the place before and not knowing about the rain, for exemple. I know wild fires are a big problem in some regions of Portugal, as well as droughts, so you might want to check for stuff like that and prepare accordingly (that's why the more water sources the better, and why protecting the existing ones is important, so get some shade on those lakes and creeks). Get to know the land, the people. The video with the interviews of the neighbours was so cool, since I'm brazilian and I speak portuguese I understood everything they said. Anyway, get to know more people, maybe people that live farther, talk to them, you may learn about problems that they have and that you might be able to help with, or they may help you to know about ways to prevent damage from natural problems the region has. 11. In terms of food: - Creating chickens might be a good source of protein (eggs), if the goal isn't to be vegan, and it's very low cost too. - Build a solar food drier. Dried fruit and vegetables last longer and need less or no refrigeration. Fun and low cost project with high return. Also might provide future income for the project selling dried foods. - Build an oven. Now this is a good one. You can just buy or find one in a metal dump and restore it, or you can build a wood oven (I don't see the problem in burning wood, one small scale project like this won't make much difference) but it can also be an electric one as well. But build an oven. It may be a good source of income (selling bread locally), and food for the kamp. There are also solar ovens which might be an option. I recommend spending some time in investigating about the types and models of ovens to find the one that best suits the projects needs before deciding, so as not to choose one quick and then spend a lot of time building it just to figure out later that we need a bigger one, or something like that. - Making jelly is also a good way of preserving food and could be a source of income. Also goes well with bread. - Plant perennial plants that give fruit and vegetables and are from the region. This might take some looking into, but it may be very helpful. - There are some kinds of low tech refrigerators, like boxes you bury in the ground to keep food cool without using electricity, or refrigerators that are square boxes made from clay with thick hollow walls that you can fill with sand, compact the sand and then pour water on the sand, it keeps the food cool without electricity too. Again, search on youtube for different models. - Reseach about agroforestry, and other methods of sustainable agricultre. THere is a species of tree that is one of the fastest growing trees, it's called "Paulownia Tomentosa", might be useful too. 12. For hygiene: - Very cool that you identified the possible soap tree. The soap tree is a great asset, if that wasn't one, it might be a good idea to think about planting some. Its fruits really act like soap, which can save a lot of money not having to buy any (or as much), and it can also be used for washing clothes. Just put a handful on a sock, tie the open end and put it inside the washing machine instead of the soap. - Build a human powered washing machine. Lots of models on youtube. The most common is the one with a bycicle. Fun and low cost project that can save money and time. Anyway, the project is looking great, and the lenght of this comment shows how much I'm liking it. Would love to visit one day!
Thanks for the tips and suggestions everyone! Always good to hear some other angles to a problem. We’re quite convinced we would be able to adapt to the highway noise over time. Solve it mentally. However, Project Kamp is a place with many visitors. The worry is that it would affect those coming since not everyone can go through an adaptation process like that. Waking up with the sound of a highway is not ideal. And our lifestyle here is very outdoor which makes it even more noticeable compared to indoor city life. And most people wouldn’t be sleeping in big stone houses like the locals. But simple structures/tents/vans. I think the heavy feeling comes from that, hoping we can make this a nice place for people contributing to the project in the future..
Visitors to project kamp will gain so much from visiting you that a little highway noise is really not that much of a worry. If they are so easily triggered then maybe they may not be the best visitors for you. You have land closeish to the highway so you will have noise. There are not so many places where this is absolutely zero audio evidence of humans around. I'm in the Spanish Campo just now and the sound of strimmers and chainsaws is there sooooo much. That's life. Maybe a few more fast growing trees in the right spot? I grew up next to a main road on a gorgeous piece of land. The benefits are better than the sound that you get used to. Good luck, I've been following what you do for a few years and am about to start a precious plastic thing and maybe even a volunteer visit. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't stress too much about the noise. Thanks for your work. : ) And yes, if you can fund off grid that would be amazing!!
Once you have visitors, there will be a constant level of noise anyway. If only one person snores in a tent, he or she will likely already be louder than the street. People who are used to traveling in tents or hostels will be able to handle some noises. If nothing works, playing some relaxed music is always a nice way to remove background noise. Don't worry, people will love your place :)
In 5 to 10 years most cars will be full electric and very quiet. You should begin to hear the sound star to dissipate as time goes on. Once the trucks begin converting is when you will notice this the most.
Totally understand your ‘road noise’ dilemma, as you plan your development and investing significant sums. I bought a small house, farmland & woodland in France 2 years ago and settled in for my ‘year of observation’. It has turned into 2 years of observation and a lot of drawing plans for potential directions of development. As time has gone on and with time to contemplate some negatives / challenges, I realised that I am free to sell up and move on to another piece of land that better suits my personal needs and that this is absolutely fine - if I decide to do this I won’t have ‘failed’, I will have succeeded … in listening and adapting plans as my knowledge of my land and my needs increases. If you find yourself coming to terms with the noise and staying put, fabulous. If you learn that ‘industrial’ noise is definitely something you don’t want to live with, and choose to invest your time and resources in a different piece of land, fabulous! It’s all simply listening & learning x
Part of the problem you have now is that you will be hypersensitive to the noise because you are emotionally triggered....if you focus too much on it as a problem to be solved, it will probably get worse...If you are going to stay, do some work on making peace with it, letting it go as an issue and maybe you'll just accommodate it as part of life...
I lived within an 1/8 mile of a Railroad track right in town where it would blare the horn each day as it passed through. After a few weeks I never 'heard' it again because I automatically started filtering it out.
I live in Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world. I spend a year living in the forest in Chiapas, moving back to the city was a nightmare and even my cats where super stressed, but after a while you get use to it. It's so interesting to listen how the sound issue could make you rethink your choice for the location, but I agree is part of the hypersensitivity triggered by maybe other doubts about the project! Im sure it will go aways,
Exactly this. If you love the land and don't want to move just because of the sound you have to reframe what it means in your mind. I personally would think of it as my region of the country attracting more people and resources. Whenever you do notice the sounds you can be a little humble you get to live in such a beautiful area of a growing region.
Talking about power, with that small river flowing thru your land you could consider an water dam power plant. It would be an great experiment and you could build a very basic version out of a old washing machine motor. That would also work at night! I'd love to come and build one!
your brain will get used to the noise and ignore it, i grew up next to the train rails, lived there 26 years, and don't remember listening to the train unless i was paying attention to it.
Traffic noise has been a problem for us for many years,cwe have travelled around Europe, we have lived in different countries, and we can't escape Traffic noise.. we are currently in sweden in a sparsely populated area, and the traffic is driving us mental..
Highway sounds !!! … I think we all across the world got used to less highway sound because of Covid restrictions …now the traffic is back we are noticing it again … even air traffic !!! … the only thing you can do is ensure you do not cut trees and bushes in the highway direction and consider planting fast growing evergreen bushy trees (near where the sound disturbs you most, camp area?). .. … probably best to do at least a couple of l rows (in brick like fashion) appropriately spaced bearing in mind the mature tree size rather than young tree size … but do not allow these to grow too high … top the middle branch (when it grows to a manageable height) … this will allow the trees to thicken and widen and form a natural sound barrier … the sound is heightened at the moment because you are focusing on it and because it is a relatively new sound … this will fade into the background as you become used to it and it will not take up so much of you ‘attention space’ THE PROJECT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR and visitors will be focused on what you are trying to achieve, rather than background noise … so do not worry so much Wishing you all the best … 🙏☘️😘
I think your best bet for power will be solar, especially with the large wide open treeless areas. As for water I’d turn that rainfall problem into your solution and collect it. Rain water is very easy to clean with basic consumer equipment to make it drinkable. Basic filter for leaves and dirt, fine particulate filter set, UV treatment, then pressurize it with a tank and air pump. Rainwater is also naturally soft so no having to deal with hard mineral filled water or sketchy farm runoff the the surrounding area. You can then heat the water with solar water heater setups ran into a normal hot water tank for storage if needed. This is basically the American homestead movement starter kit for places that allow rainwater collection for drinking. It’s low cost, simple to maintain, DIY friendly, and all off the shelf supplies.
Great video, and love to watch, how this idea/dream developed. Your “problem” reminds me to a good friend of mine who lives in the north east of the Netherlands. I must say say that i’m no expert and i have no personal experience, so i just share what i seen, and his advice, after we both watched your video. He suggest to lookup at “hedera” plants to let this grow against fences. They grow faster then trees, and can easily cover a whole fence up to 6mtr high. Which is higher then you properly need. So my friend lives near a busy highway too, that is located 5km away from him. He used construction building fences that are easy to place and take away again. He placed 2 on top of each other. (4 mtr high) And doubled them, and also strengthened them with cross fences and poles, so they wouldn’t tumble by winds. He used the “hedera” plant to cover the whole fence. The fence is now so thick, that the high tone sounds don’t penetrate through that fence. However the low tones are the ones that you can still hear slightly, when the circumstances are the least favorable. According to my friend, the plants grow pretty fast if you also plant several on both sides and in between of the fence. He said that he used about 10 cuttings per meter. Which he grew in pots before he planted them. He used a lot of samples taken from forrest and samples taken from his direct surroundings. It did fully grow in 8 years, but had a noticeable result within a few years, after planting them. Hope you can use his advice. Cheers
Could talk with the Neigbors and see if a sound barrier can be installed in the highway. It's usually used in more dense areas but could help maybe. Or plant more trees
It is disappointing when you have this dream and picture of how you want things and they change or dont meet your expectations. It's hard to be open to changes and compromise. I hope the joy and beauty of your land and project!! Its such an incredible endeavor and a life changing experience!!!! Your are amazing people ❤
It's the wind... there's a phenomenon that happens in mountains, usually with water, where you can hear the water as if it was right next to you but it ain't, it's one of the reasons behind lots of disappearences in jungles, people tend to look for them and end up lost. I can't temember the name of it, but I crossed that info a few days ago. I'm from Lisbon btw, I just joined your discord channel. Really glad to have found your channel! Keep it up! Water fountains would act as a kind of active noise cancellation rigs. By checking the general sound frequency coming from the highway and tweaking the fountains to match that same frequency, they end up cancelling each other. Whenever there was sound coming from the highway the fountains would become way less audible and you'd just know why. It's a pretty interesting project to try and learn from!
Impressive research! I love how the both of you and all the people around you are managing this. About highway-sounds..it’s all about attribution: what meaning you attach to it. Some alternative perspectives: The sound is a white noise, which our brain really like. It also made you look, hear, sense AND made good use of your problemsoving brain..a problem is only problem when you say it is..but whithout problems we get lazy and out of nature. Choose your battles wisely. Great challenge! Good luck!
I have build a pizza oven 5years ago. It was without a roof. Do not forget to build a roof over your pizza oven, otherwise it will start to crumble after 5 years. I used fireclay mortar and was very dissapointed with it. Maybe the brand or user error or no roof :D I switched the mortar with cement and was pretty happy with it. If you are using used firebrick (from old stoves) becarefull that it doesnt have asbestos in it. You can check online. If the stone is older then 1980 ?? I do not know the exact year, but everything older is fine to use. Your chimney is important aswell. The opening for the chimney must be higher than your opening otherwise the smoke will come out where you stand. I know it sounds simple, but I had to repair mine, because the draft was not good enough. Do not make it too big. I know bigger is better, but you have to warm it up really long. If you decide to build it yourself. The easiest way is to use sand to form the inside of the oven and build the dome on the sand. After that remove the sand. Use an air compressor to get the sand out of the cracks. On my first pizza I had a lot of sand with it, because it fell from the dome :D Good luck. But the most important factor for good Pizza is your skill and not the oven. You can have a crappy oven and still make good Pizza. Took me 5 years to learn the skill to make pizza I am happy with. And now I will have to build a new one, but now improved
You don’t have to make a lot of fountains, just were you spend a lot of time. Your work station and your sleeping area. I moved by a very busy highway in Switzerland. In the beginning it was terrible but impossible as I thought it would be to get used to it I did. Now I was right above the highway on a hill. You are a kilometer and a half. I could hear the highway on your post. I would suggest giving it a bit more time and if it is still ruining hour zen then you will have to start looking for another place. I know, easier said than done. I’m really inspired by what your doing. Best wishes.
Trees which are not blocking the view won't really block the sound. Also, you recently brought a lot of equipment in and cleared a lot of land. Lastly, a single line of trees will provide minimal sound dampening. I would suggest considering three rows, being offset from each other. Start with 50/50 Pine and hardwood. The pine will grow faster; but will also be more brittle -- snapping off and falling on things. It will help mostly in the winter. The hardwoods will help support the pines once they manage to grow. Lastly, you probably will want to establish a canopy over the main area. This should be a small number of trees which will have a nice "roof" over your base camp. Once you are surrounded by trees and have your canopy, I think the noise of the road will seem less. Yes, it will still take a while; but it will start to work as soon as they are planted and just get better each year.
Vlogs are getting better and better each time, very fun to see the progress in filmmaking. For the highway sounds: let the area you own in the direction of the highway grow wild to create as much mass between you and there as possible. Or recycled plastic noise barriers...
I lived in Portugal about a km from a highway a bit like yours. You could even see the vehicles. Sometimes it felt like they were driving through the property they were so present. 70 percent of the time though had no idea it was there. As bushes and trees grew it was definitely better but not perfect. Wind direction, weather, and ambient noise was key. Usually wind blew the noise away. I would imagine your preveiling wind would be from the direction of the highway. You have a lot more vegetation though. It can be hard when a thing that irritates you is all you can notice. Of course we should focus on the positives and work from there. Looking at your situation I see a lot of positives. You have a lot of land so you can directly affect your environment around you. Things grow fast in Portugal. Water seems fairly abundant where you are, use all this to your advantage and it will become a paradise. Cut a long story short I would focus on regenerating your environment and negatives will disappear, literally. If you can always hear the road at some point in the future perhaps just accept that it is there and then when you can't hear it (majority of the time) the quiet and beauty will be even sweeter!
Forget the noise, you have to resolve first the safety and cooling the containers. Summer is coming and this is a risk area in terms of fire, you must protect the base Kamp with water points, safe places (ex: underground shelter), other issue is the high temperature in the summer, containers must be isolated from direct sun, otherwise you will burn inside. Good luck, and all the best for this project
Love your scientific approach to the highway noise. I perfectly understand your dilemma. It seems like certain people are less tolerable to noise, and I'm one of them. A few suggestions would be to build a elevated soil barrier; plant trees that attract birds to muffle the unnatural noises; or even build a cheap wooden fence on the side where the noise comes from.
This was a great video! I found it really interesting when you sat down and talked through your thoughts (why this was a big deal, doesn't every option come with problems, etc). It was a super productive way to go through a problem, which was helpful for my normally scattered brain. I hope it was helpful to you, and that this sound problem can at least be mitigated to some degree :) Keep these videos coming Dave-- SUPER exciting work!
Hello, for the highway noise: A) buy some animals, chicken, goats, dogs or feed the wild boar B) buy a Caraoke Station and sing C) build a Blacksmith Shop and work there a lot and not recommended D) live a week here at my home, between traintrack (the busyest in Germany), a lot industrial plants, a school (840 kits) and a sport facilitie (3 soccer places and a hall, with all the car traffic) For the school and sport Corona bring a lot of silence :-(, but I dont like Corona. One of them will give you the peace you need, I prefer animals (the boar, this dampen also any other smell) have fun, stay save and hope you have no bigger problems. best regards from Germany Gerhard
highways are hard to get away from. way better than being near an air traffic area. one time I picked a campsite I thought was so quiet, at night I start to hear rushing water. turns out i was only a few hundred feet from a river but couldnt hear it during the day. only when i relaxed at night besides you are forgetting the highway provides you access to towns. It can bring workers in, facilitate trips to stores, and make getting supplies all easier. Ive been on properties that are 10-15 miles from a highway and usually the last part of the road is terrible being theres few properties way out there, makes the driving much slower. adding 30 mins to 1 hour to a trip to town really adds up over the year. I will take a little noise and be slightly closer to town myself. Got really sick of driving 2.5/3 hour round trips for groceries or building supplies
I do understand about new noises when you've invested so much to be in a particular place. I just rent, but I live in NYC in a neighborhood called Inwood. Mostly I love this area. There are wonderful parks around, the Hudson River and the Harlem river are not far away, more low rises than most of the rest of Manhattan, and great people. But there is an issue of noise. I live in an apartment in the back, away from the street. The windows are heavy, double pane windows. Yet several times a week the music from parked cars and people on the street is so loud that I can barely think. On some occasions, it is so loud that it makes my eardrums vibrate. There are also people who drive off road vehicles on the streets, many motorcycles that have been modified to be even louder, and vehicles that do donuts in intersections. I work from home a lot. I work as an adjunct prof for several colleges. My work takes focus. The noises can make it practically impossible for me to get work done. In any case, I can't afford to move and, despite all of this, don't want to leave the city. I have earphones, fans, and noise cancelling machines to help me deal. I also have some fairly problematic fantasies of what I would like to do to the speakers and vehicles. It is hard to adjust to noise. I think it noises are invasive in ways that other things are not as much, except maybe smells.
Hello: Its been a year since this video was posted and wonder if the sound issue has been addressed? I too had quite a surprise when a season change brought much higher level of sound through a property. After some research and found my way through to how other cultures found ways to resolve such matters. I came to both Japanese Korean natural esthetic agricultural solutions. And yes, falling water onto rocks or water surfaces will bring a much softer sound that is much more pleasing while drowning out the road noise. Another I found useful was a small stand of tall growing bamboo where the wind rustling through the tal stand also brought more natural sounds closer that again overpowered the road noises. Then We also tried a different approach and this seemed strange though in practice it actually helped and other advantages as well. This was the use of a gravity filled bamboo that was filled with water to a tipping point and once full would tip on a hinge to empty itself then returning to a filling position with a clacking sound. The point of this is to interrupt the dreoning of say, road noise and to hear the more pleasant sound of the bamboo. To get a visual there are many examples online of these in use around ponds. In anycase we found this to actually help against road noise and with additional benefit of movement and sound to keep wild animals from going after a fish propagation pond.
My first apartment was in the fancy neighborhood of Beacon Hill in Boston. I was seeing the apartment for the first time and every fifteen minutes the subway ran under the hill and every house/apartment on Beacon Hill and the State House shook. It took two days to become completely numbed to it where I never noticed it. Hopefully your ears unfocus upon those annoyances and let you enjoy your beautiful land in peace.
Probably BEST SOLUTION for now would be to: Examine the sound paths (simply the wind directions and ways it gets from the highway to the kamp) and check where within is the free (no-mans) land and just plant there few "green walls" as soon as possible and using fast growing tall trees for that. Here in Poland’s climate great would be poplar for example. Also birch is good and willow grows really fast but is not very tall - but willows can be good to plant closer to the camp, maybe on the outer border? This tree is super easy to plant (you need just a stick) and grows like crazy. But I don’t know if they’re suitable for your climate. I’m sure you’ll match something without problems :)
You will quickly adapt to new sounds only, if you consciously don’t pay attention at the beginning. It’s like when you start noticing you breath! Just the reverse. We had a motorway very close with to us in England and noticed it when we moved in. Later, it became white noise and it was a good thing to have such good access. We only noticed the impact of its existence when lockdown happened. You will get used to it. Just play music, a podcast for the moment and give it a few months 😊
I’d recommend getting into permaculture and use the rain as the key element to establish good tree cover and wind breaks. I think you can easily manage the highway noise issue by installing some tall windbreaks such as bamboo and other fast growing species in strategic places on the landscape... best of luck and enjoy the land!
Imagine the Highway noise is the sound of the sea. Or take it as a part of your mission. Project Kamp is not a utopian island immune from all the challenges of the world. The Highway sound reminds you of the anthropocene issues you are tackling and therefore to keep on pushing Project Kamp.
If the sound is the worst in the Kamp, then you should focus on this area. It is comparably easy to cover this place from sound than your complete property. A high hedge like the one you planted at the street in the last video can already help a lot as long as you live directly behind it. Having a garden with trees and bushes is also almost like acoustic foam that blocks sounds and their echos.
A simple sawhorse can be made with 5 logs of the size you have and is much safer than freehand sawing. On the noise issue, contours will make a difference, plant more *fast* growing dense trees like the Cypress at the highest points between source and camp, won't solve it quickly, but it should improve with time. Are there any young trees you can transplant from elsewhere on the site. Have you though about carbon offset schemes to fund tree planting?
Tall berms can act as a sound barrier. It would take a day or two of heavy machinery for earthworks, plus you'd have to know exactly where you wanted to place them to create the sound shadow(s). Once they are in, you could plant them to absorb more sound, with anything from native plants to a vegetable garden. There's more to it than I've mentioned here, but I've never done it myself, though I've seen places near my home (Kansas flatland) where it's been done.
About the noise, maybe you can check "straw bale gardening", you can build a wall of straw bale in the right spot near base camp, and build a garden on top of it. Don't know how much maintainance will need, but it's a cheap solution for creating a sound barrier.
Heads up, our brain is an amazing thing, can filter out background noise. I used to have a garden cirka 200 meters from the road, and after a couple of months I stopped to notice the noise. Best way to turn it off is to turn your focus to something exciting. Hope this makes sense and things are going to work out well.
yeh agree. We would propbably get used to it. I guess the worry is also that Project Kamp is a place where many people will come and go. We want to create a nice place, where hopefully not everyone has to go to an adoptation process first. Hopefully the sound is less heavy on visitors..
@@ProjectKamp you are doing great job with the camp, it's already fascinating. I don't think anyone will focus on the road noise when visiting. There will be plenty exciting things to do, so I am absolutely sure people who are interested in the project will have amazing time there. Just keep on going and building your dream :)
Go solar. As some else mentioned below, its getting easier and easier to find second hand electric car batteries and they store a HUGE amount of energy (usually over 20kwh) and have a very long lifespan. Also, inverters technology and solar panels are getting more affordable. Growatt has 220v 5kw inverters for $900 and you can daisy chain them to get more kw output if needed. I can't be there but hopefully I can share some knowledge. You could also get a shipping container to store the batteries and all electric components. Portugal's weather might not be the best for solar harvesting, but your energy requirements are not super high so it should work. More info on the inverters ruclips.net/video/dCQIGPuPHCc/видео.html
Great advice sir. As a Scot with a 4.2Kwh array which powers me 90% of the time. I would imagine Portugal to be pretty good for solar harvesting and they would have little issues if they pair it with a decent battery.
Yes, I completely agree. Especially with the minimum of 10k you would have to spend on a grid connection. For that money you can easily set up a basic solar grid with room for expansion. Also, with that river flowing thru your land a water dam power source would be a cool experiment!! You can make one form an electric washing machine motor. Generates more than you think and also works at night! I'd love to come and build one ;)
In your big development section you had the answer to your sound problem. If you are thinking about reforestation then you you will have a barrier. I have 20 acres about 2.5 miles away from a highway. I don’t even notice any more. Being from NYC, now living in Alabama on so much land, with my nearest neighbor almost a mile away is fantastic. Sounds like a small inconvenience.
If its quieter near the creek on your land, perhaps move base camp to that area? Otherwise look at it in a different way - just be thankful you are in a nice bush setting and not driving on the highway:-)
im so sorry for you guys! :( anyway before to choose to leave i think you should search the higher pointsin your land and build big walls (like barriers) and the plant with fast growing bushes! in the place where i grow up usually was a help! give it a try , schöne projekt alles zusammen! big hugs and stay positive.
You can build a wall directly next to the highway. (Let build) with permission of the authority. Or make a deal with the neighbours to build a Soundblocking fence on theire land. Just an idea
What do you expect? If it isn't going to be "highway" sound, it'll be agricultural machinery! You are not so far away from people!! It's normal. I live in a very quiet part of Paris, surrounded by buildings, it's quieter here than a friends house in the country, agricultural sounds can be a problem too! You'll cover the sound with your own noise!!
Het verhaal over de waterfontijn klopt, en hoeft geen hele grote te zijn. Als je er eentje in de vijver plaatst, hoor je de snelweg niet meer, omdat het geluid van het kletterende water, dat overstemd. Maar... dan kan het wel zo zijn, dat je de hele dag het gevoel hebt, dat je plassen moet.... Misschien kan je een waterpomp, in de vijver plaatsen, en dan een riviertje maken, zodat het water terugloopt naar de vijver.. dat is al iets minder hard geklater..... Veel geluid van een weg, hangt inderdaad af van de windrichting.
Did you notice the high way more after the Containers arrived? Maybe the base camp is louder because metal is reflecting the sound? Than you may have to put a vertical garden on the outside!?
People have mentioned sound barriers (near the highway) and berms (on your land). It's unlikely that the first is economically justifiable; the second might be, if your permaculture-style observations reveal that creating a dam/lake/swales (say if you are going to explore keyline design to manage water distribution) is worth it - that would give you surplus earth/stone with which to create a berm - or in combination with surplus timber from your land, a 'rustic' criblock retaining wall. This could be designed to have low visual impact, as well as maybe create wildlife habitat or local micro-climate improvements. A lot of work/energy to create though! The other thing to measure is how many decibels the intrusive sound is, and the frequency (in both senses - hertz and regularity). Different sound frequencies are harder/easier to tackle. Definitely good to analyse the site, maybe your findings will help you decide where certain zones are created. As someone else said, at the moment you are super-aware of the sound because you are creating very few aural distractions yourself! You could also mask the sounds, not with water noise (makes people want to pee!) but with the wind itself - if you plant species that rustle, swish and flutter in the breeze, those sounds will help disguise the traffic noise - birch trees, poplars, bamboos, lots of options. Probably creating a combination of all these things will mean you are too busy to notice the noise :)
I used to live next to motorway. When they've replaced the surface for a new one, we had to move out, as the noise doubled up. After 6 years of living there, when we were buying the house, first thing was can we hear street noice. It's a massive problem, and it becomes bigger and bigger, as you tend to get tired of that, and it starts to be a nuisance.
It's so cute, but I think you are just there too much alone. When people come and visit, you'll forget it, will not hear it at all. You just hear it now, because that is your pink elephant right now. But yes, I know how it feels. I love the comments on it from the others, what you all learn here, I mean people have the coolest studies and jobs, you never heard of :) Nice things added to project camp happenings, wow. I wish I could come and built that pizza oven for you. Very important indeed if you can find good mud within your own area, good clay soil. You have to dig a bit deep,, but you'll find it :) Till someone comes to build it, collect some glass, so you can crash it later on and use it on the oven, at the base. And if you would find that mud, later on you can all built tiny houses from it too. Just let me know, and I send you the information how to make your own loam brick. I have some good ideas also for the kitchen and cooking outside if you are interested let me know :) You have my mail address too.
I understand your feelings about the highway . I live in the netherlands outside a industrial park. Lovely small spot with a creek and some big mayple trees. I hear the highwsy specially when the wind is east. But the energy of the place is just fantastic. So i do not hear it anymore... I am happy on my land with a lot of niets, rabbits and a beaver family... Of course i do not own The place thats a point...
Maybe try a couple of spaced out rammed earth walls around the perimeter of the camp. It'll look beautiful and help dampen the noise. Plus no extra materials required if the dirt from the land is used.
If that's too much noise, then you'll likely spend an enormous amount of time finding a better location than what you already have. Roll with it and keep going. I practically live on top of a highway and you will quickly stop noticing the traffic. Keep it up!
Perhaps your containers are picking up the sounds from the wind or ground and are amplifying them by resonating certain frequencies. Anything big and hollow made out of metal can do this. Like windmills for example. Noisy stuff. Many issues with them emitting low hums and whistles when the wind starts experimenting with them.
Please remember that your land recently experienced a forest fire that decimated the foliage on your land. In a few years, much of the new growth will absorb most of the sound from nearby roads. In all, I would rather have the road instead of lawnmowers, etc..
I need to make rustic furniture for our gtfo property too. I need to get fire number/address for my property. Bury the power lines. You can put down a point well yourself. We get lake sounds at our property boats and jet ski's. Is someone laying on the jake brake? Think its the elevation of the highway. Grow hops to block noise or other vines. Bushradical has few videos on point wells.
Really nice bench you've built. I would recommend you to heat treat the ends that are in the ground to make it last longer. Same goes for your tent posts from the last video.
For covering up sounds with trees you would need an at least 30m quite dense mixed hedge with bushes and trees. If it isn’t dense it also transfers the sound much better. The problem though is that you are in a risk area for bush fires so that might be also in this way not an ideal solution. Another solution could be a mound with soil and bushes or a wall(noise barrier/Lärmschutzwand in German ) with sound swallow materials (plants for instance, artificial one are expensive and need maintenance ) as high as the containers are. This solution needs not that much space as a hedge. In any way to solve the problem you need to find a way to transport the sound waves from the roads over the noisy areas it will be in any way cost intensive. It is also clear problem of noise pollution and their are also Eu legislation for that. So maybe there is also a solution that the municipality/ district or federal has to provide something. Don’t know,… if that makes sense and maybe that could be even slower to grow a hedge, but just an idea. Hope that helps to some extent with the problem.
In Sydney, Australia, the airport is do close to the city that peuple have to live under the flight path. Even on some really expensive houses 1m€+ the sound of it is so bad that while a plane goes over the neighbourhood you have to pause tv or stop talking while the plane was over you in order to keep up the conversation! That was epic, but hey lived RIGHT UNDER that flight path for 4years and I didn’t care anymore I barely noticed unless I had friends over! =) hopefully your brain gets used to it fairly fast and then you won’t notice it anymore!
The benefit of the highway is that you’re near infrastructure. There are lots of places with minimal sound, but those places often don’t have infrastructure. You have nearby access to a library, cell service, internet, electricity, roads that a government maintains, mail delivery, grocery and hardware stores, vehicle repair, garbage and recycling service, neighbors, medical services, etcetc. I’ve lived in rural Montana and North Dakota where there’s no highway noise, but a grocery shopping trip is literally a full 15 hour effort of driving and shopping, and that’s just the start. Don’t have the right hinges for a project? Those also require a full day to acquire. Oops, forgot screws? Guess what. Don’t cut yourself badly or fall down and knock yourself out. Routine oopsies become major life events when you have no road. I guess what I’m saying is that road noise is the sound of people bringing you things you need.
I think I heard the highway, but could have been imagination or the microphone rustle, too. If it really bugs you for a longer time, you already had some great tips here - trees etc. I would perhaps suggest looking into the techy solution of a big scale noise cancellation, where a device sends out the counter wave sound, resulting in no sound behind the device. As for my understanding, the closer this decide would stand to the highway, the bigger area it should affect behind it. But I'm not entirely sure about the workings of such a thing, nor do I even know if sth like this exists.
Maybe you are just mooore aware about the sounds because usually is very calm and quiet. Probably with more people around talking, working, being or so... I didn't really hear anything but really hope isn't thaaaaat bad. Liked the bench 👏🏼⚡
There's a really plus side on being that close o a highway: it is less likely that in a few years, they would want to build a new highway that would go though your land. When I read the title I really though that the problem was that a new highway would go near or even on your land.
If you are planning to plant some trees consider planting fast growing willow (e.g. tora or olof). These bad boys can grow fast. In 3 years they grow 6m in height and 10 cm in diameter and they grow dense together. Later use them as a biomass once you get the woodchipper donation.
Also have you considered moving the base camp to a location within the territory where the noise levels are the lowest? Use the natural noise barriers you already have.
regarding sounds: probably the wind. note down when you hear them and and compare with the wind direction. (well, i should have watched on, because you did exactly that anyway :D) well: put up some wind generators, they will be louder in any case, but you will enjoy the sound because it's from something you like. ;)
One possible solution to the highway sounds is to plant a barrier made of bamboo (instead of trees) because bamboo makes a more dense barrier, with less holes, and it also grows much faster than trees, 6 months to 2 years. Just investigate a bit about the species of bamboos you will plant because some of them spread like plagues.
you could try talking with the locals and try to understand what they think about the highway noise. here in Italy, when the highway is near to home/villages, it must have sound barriers (like huge plexiglass next to the road).
The most correct and environmentally friendly remedy for preventing highway noise is to plant dense and high trees on the field border in the direction of the sound. This environmental system blocks both sound and wind.
It happens often that the sound is being reflected by the clouds and people living further away will hear it very loud while people living much.closer might not even recognize it. That phenomenon hit us quite often during parties we made...
Flowing water will definitely help. Do you have a river or stream near by you can divert water through the kamp? Building a pond with flowing water like a small waterfall is a great way to farm fish to eat too.
In holland by the motorways you have the perspex screens,about 25 feet high curved in to the traffic.they work.just put a line of them up they are clear.
Could you make a dam for your spring and raise the water height? If so, you could do a micro hydro power installation! That could give you a more steady supply of electricity. You could also pipe the water far away to get more height difference if the property will allow it.
Perhaps due to covid there were less trucks crossing from and to Spain and less traffic in general? One advantage of that highway is easier forest fire escape :/ I'd find another spot that's really quiet and not surrounded by eucalyptus trees to build on your next episode in life. Portugal + Eucalyptus = high risk. Good thing is you have water now.
For a decade i lived within 200 meters of a trainyard. You get super used to it in a short while. After a year we didnt notice it at all. We slept like babies at night even when they bumped traincars. Sounds like a luxery problem, that you are a bit too focused on, good Sir.
I was born in New York City. Noise was part of life. At 27 I moved to suburban Philadelphia and it took me forever to get used to quiet. The first time my brother from my brother from NY came to visit, he said he couldn't sleep because it was too quiet. So, you will not notice it after a while. One of the farmers in Central Portugal has a dog next door that bark ALL day. That would bother me.
An obvious suggestion would be planting trees that will grow tall enought, combiened with thick growing shurbs, that will work as a living sound-barrier
Check the local legislation towards sound pollution, maybe there is a way that government is putting sound reflecting/ absorbing walls along the highway, as the measure to reduce the sound. If currently there are no mitigation measures applied, probably during the design of the highway there were no such norms, they can be applied as the environment is changing and the traffic has been increased turning in to sound pollution.
@Conceição Reis EU is giving the money for these purposes, it's all about the activity of the country. It wont be easy task (if getting address took so much time + paper) and yes this is difficult. In general : local people shall have common view! Need to find NGO or representative who can fight for this in other levels and then maybe it can happen, and it's not easy task indeed. Probably strong local, environmental NGO shall help with this.
Sound can carry really far (as does smell). E.g. when the wind is south and the wind is strong, we can smell the coffee factory which is 20 minutes from us. If there's a festival, you can also hear it kilometers far away.
I live just shy of half a mile from an Interstate, less than a kilometer. In the summer I can't hear it, but in the winter, when the trees have no leaves, I can hear it. But since I've lived here nearly 40 years I'm obviously fine with it. I am also in a big city, the 10th largest in the U.S., so it really could be worse.
Did you look at the land during the pandemic? When everyone was at home? And now we're all getting back to work, so more cars etc. I've lived near by highways and main roads my whole life. You get used to it, it's quietest Sundays and holidays.
Look into fast growing hedges. There are some species that grow incredibly fast, large, and dense. They can be planted in rows or randomly. They can be planted very close together as well!
as you are new to the area and surroundings, you're probably hyper-aware of everything, hence the noise from the highway being more noticeable. When I moved a few years ago, there was a lot more traffic next to the house, which concerned me, but I don't notice it after a while. Also, as you said it's only sporadic that you hear it, thankfully. So, I think you'll begin to not notice it, even more so as the site becomes busier and more active with people.
@@Linuxxl that's way too much. I can supply that Basecamp with their current needs for power with 6 car batteries and 2k euro in equipment. One small turbine and a couple solar panels and an inverter. That's all they need right now.
@@ryanmcewen415 That was what I was thinking. The RUclips channel "Kris Harbour Natural Building" has a nice setup (sun, wind and hydro) and is able to run 3phase equipment with no problems.
I live between 3 freeways, less than ⅛th mile away in any direction. It sucks. Not only the sound, but the dust generated as well. A sound wall along the highway, a wall of trees and shrubs, vines/ivy on walls and other hard surfaces will reduce sound further. Also a water feature can maybe reduce the din as well .
It’s strange I lived 2 kms from a railway viaduct in wagga on some nights the train seemed to be coming thru the front door from memory it was on still overcast nights maybe cloud cover
I live near a main road, tram, and railroad. After 6 months, it's complete white noise to me. A friend that was visiting pointed it out to me but I really couldn't notice it at all.
Here's a sound engineer advice (I'm graduated in architectural acoustics) : rise a 3 meters mud bank around the base camp, plant native trees on it, you'll be free of noise. :)
@Conceição Reis 50 meters is not enough to duck 1500°C to a safe temperature. Actually if the wind blows in the direction of the house, even 500 meters should not be enough. Forest fires cross rivers and lakes as you should know...
@Conceição Reis umm… actually they’re already surrounded by trees 🙄
@Conceição Reis Sorry, I made a mistake the comment above was answering another question about fires, sorry.
Sound have a tendency to raise, like heat. If you install a 3 meters mud bank (surronding the free of bushes area), the noise will be stopped for the lower area, and the remaining noise will pass way over your head and your ears. Trees planted over the mud bank will stabilize it, with an effect on high frequencies. The low frequencies are the most difficult to duck.
@Conceição Reis The budget is the rental of an excavator for the week-end. It does not sound that much. You find the mud under youre feets.
@@axelSixtySix hello Axel, in this case, they are annoyed by low frequencies;, due to their distance from highway 1.5 Km the high frequencies are damped by the air absorption trees are nice to reduce high mid and high frequencies, but useless for low mid and low frequencies )and a 3 m High mud bank is far from being enough. the mud bank would need at least to be half the wavelengh for a specific frequency to start being efficient ( 20 Hertz = 17m of wavelengh for 20°Celcius and 343 m/s of sound speed propagation) this means that the mud bank would need to be at least 8.5 m high to start stoping this specific frequency ... I'd rather start trying to act directly close to the sound source and try to see if it's possible to do something near the highway so everybody in the surounding have benefits from this. Even if this solution looks untouchable, it's the one that will benefit to the most and. They also have to consider that ear due to it's tremendous sensitivity 0.00002 pa compared to the 100000 pa of ambiant presure will always try to ear something. Reduce the loudest source and you will start earing the lowest ones that become the loudest and so on and so forth .... ... The good news is that we can expect in a close future that trucks will become electric ones and that the noise they will generate will be only air flowing noise with higly reduced low frequencies. xav
I can empathise. I moved from central London to the countryside a few years ago. At first I was amazed by how quiet it was especially at night. Then like you discovered on parts of the land at various times of the year I could hear road noise. I was gutted and felt like my sanctuary was spoiled. I got over it though! And a I'm sure you will too. It's only natural to have this kind of reaction when this project means so much. Focus on the good stuff and the significance of the noise will fade. Keep up the awesome work
Sounds like a snowflake problem 😂😂😂
@@antoniodasilva1230 More a first world problem in my case! But you have to admit that if your dream is to get away it all and immerse in nature, road noise is kind of an issue.
@@jamesgibb9737 yeah but its not that bad like he is saying ive lived in New yorkfor 37 years and my house in Portugal is around 1000 yards away from IC1 and way more truck and cars than the place he is at hardly any noise only in the dead of night our mornings plus train noise in the foggy days it aint bad 😂😂😂
One positive of the highway near by is you may have better access to emergency services. This might save someone's life some day. :)
My thoughts exactly. Also... you have a highway within 1.5km. That means it’s easy to get there quickly and easily for visitors without getting lost on the way
Thinking of the bushfires
Just plant a lot of native trees around the place so you can buffer the sound waves (just be patient on the growing, it will take time. It is what it is, is nature's pace).
Planting native trees? Which ones? The only big ones that keep perenial foliage are Oak cork tree and azinheiro (another oak) and they grow very slow, and arent the best option to grow a privacy and sound edje...better grow casuarinas, cedros and smaller bushes in the mix, like medronheiro. Maybe some native loureiro, althou its slow grow too...
Anyway, 1,5km distance for sure isnt a big problem. And at that distance he would need to plant several rows for a km long to have some sound efect....1000 tree and bushes...even if they seed and propagate themselfs (or have a big offer) you still need to plant them...it a big work and a long time to wait...and they would need to have a big area cleaned (cleanning burned and regeow eucaliptos and thornes isnt easy nor cheap)...
Just forget about that little noise...
The answer to your problem is calle a "Gabion". Basicaly a metal basket that you fill with stones, between 3-10cm in size, the more mixed the better to absorb different frequencies. You need something like a 30 cm thick "wall" of them in the direct line to the highway.
Sound travels linearly, meaning you just need to follow the line between the place the noise comes from and the place you want silence.
Trees don't absorb sound well, which is why you still here something.
Putting up a "mud wall" like someone suggested alone will not work because sound travels as a wave which means you have diffraction. If you have a small rising bump the wave will go up the hill and also down on the other end. A gabion is literally a vertical wall absorbing and reflecting directly back, therefore no problems with diffraction.
A few other tips, now that I've watched all the videos so far...
1. Cover the soil where you planted the vegetables and fruit trees with wood chips as well, not just the pathways. The woodchips will provide cover to the soil, protecting it from erosion by the wind and the rain, and it will protect the soil from sunlight, preventing water from evaporating, which will keep the water in the soil, making it richer in nutrients and microorganisms.
2. Plant bamboo or other trees around the lake and the spring after cleaning around them so that they provide shade and prevent the sun from evaporating the water. The roots of the plants will also help keep the soil together, preventing erosion around the edges of the lake and spring. Look into waterbed preserving vegetation or something like that.
3. About the topic of this video, specifically the part where you talk about how you will spend the rest of your life in this place and spend a lot of work on it, you're absolutely right. Don't be afraid to decide to sell that place and choose another one better suited for your need, if that turns out to be the case. This is not perfectionism, its about efficiency. I aim tobuild a new city from scratch, and to me it seems much more efficient to do so in a piece of land that is completely flat, for instance. Anyway, just a reminder to keep an open mind to all possibilities.
4. Plant bamboo. This, by itself, is a great tip because bamboo is the second most useful plant we know of, with more than a thousand uses. There is a place in Portugal called "Bamboo Park" or something like that, which I visited once. Might be worth a visit.
5. As for water, there is a method of digging a well using a very easy to do it yourself tool, which consists of a metal tube that you use a saw to carve some spiky sharp teeth on one end, and to tie a rope on the other end, then you build a stand A ---- A and you pass the rope above the horizontal pole, when you pull the rope the metal tube comes up, and when you drop the rope the metal tube drops to the ground with the pointy teeth digging in the dirt, then you pull the rope and a lot of dirt comes inside the tube, remove the dirt and drop the metal tube inside the hole. This way you dig a cilindrical hole in the ground, which can go down 50 meters or more, until you find water. As the whole gets deeper you put PVC pipes inside to prevent dirt from falling inside. Search on youtube for videos on how to DIY wells, I find a lot of these videos but they are in portuguese (I'm from Brazil) but Rita can help there.
6. The rust in the equipment that was in the container may have come from seawater if the container was transported by sea, or it may have comefromthecontainer itself, which may have caught some rust prior to your using it and then passed that rust on the the equipment. In the latter case, it could be helpful to try and isolate the interior walls of the containers with somekind of paint or even physical barriers like sheets of plastic, wood, or adhesive film of some sort.
7. Search for and try to get in contact with other similar projects in the region. I know you visited Tamera already, but there may be other projects and people who are like minded and my provide with helpful insights and tips, like this couple for instance, who bought a 42 acre piece of land in central Portugal and have been living off-grid there for some time. They are english speakers too, so that's a plus: ruclips.net/video/2XYipa-vztk/видео.html
8. Make your own lake. You can dig a hole in the ground,in any shape, size and depth you want, then cover it's surface in a way that makes it water repellent, and then fill it with water (or way for the rain to do it). Antoher thing you could do is to build a roof structure above the containers that could be covered in solar panels (or that can futurely support solar panels) but that also collects rain water, and then you can make it so that the rain water flows into the lake you dug, or it goes into gallons and barrels, and when they are full the excess water flows to the lake. If the lake you already have is not fit for drinking, just build one that is. And even if it is, it would be a fun project to do. As to how to properly cover the surface of the whole, just search youtube for "how to make a pond" videos, or "how to buld natural pool" videos because these also show plants and techniques to keep the water clean without the use of chlorine, which you complain about in the pool video
9. If you decide to go the off-grid route in terms of electricity, or even if you want to further test it out, another good project would be to build a wind power generator, because the parts (helices) could be made with recycled plastic. I know that the workshop is still without electricity, but there are some models of wind turbines made with recycled plastic that don't require shredding the plastic, like vertical axis wind turbines where the helices are just large plastic barrels cut in half vertically. Another idea that might be fun and possbilliy low cost. To make it as low cost as possible, and more viable without the workshop on, I suggest searching youtube videos for "low cost VAWT" or something like that.
10. Study the place. Learn from the "mistake" of not having studied the place before and not knowing about the rain, for exemple. I know wild fires are a big problem in some regions of Portugal, as well as droughts, so you might want to check for stuff like that and prepare accordingly (that's why the more water sources the better, and why protecting the existing ones is important, so get some shade on those lakes and creeks). Get to know the land, the people. The video with the interviews of the neighbours was so cool, since I'm brazilian and I speak portuguese I understood everything they said. Anyway, get to know more people, maybe people that live farther, talk to them, you may learn about problems that they have and that you might be able to help with, or they may help you to know about ways to prevent damage from natural problems the region has.
11. In terms of food:
- Creating chickens might be a good source of protein (eggs), if the goal isn't to be vegan, and it's very low cost too.
- Build a solar food drier. Dried fruit and vegetables last longer and need less or no refrigeration. Fun and low cost project with high return. Also might provide future income for the project selling dried foods.
- Build an oven. Now this is a good one. You can just buy or find one in a metal dump and restore it, or you can build a wood oven (I don't see the problem in burning wood, one small scale project like this won't make much difference) but it can also be an electric one as well. But build an oven. It may be a good source of income (selling bread locally), and food for the kamp. There are also solar ovens which might be an option. I recommend spending some time in investigating about the types and models of ovens to find the one that best suits the projects needs before deciding, so as not to choose one quick and then spend a lot of time building it just to figure out later that we need a bigger one, or something like that.
- Making jelly is also a good way of preserving food and could be a source of income. Also goes well with bread.
- Plant perennial plants that give fruit and vegetables and are from the region. This might take some looking into, but it may be very helpful.
- There are some kinds of low tech refrigerators, like boxes you bury in the ground to keep food cool without using electricity, or refrigerators that are square boxes made from clay with thick hollow walls that you can fill with sand, compact the sand and then pour water on the sand, it keeps the food cool without electricity too. Again, search on youtube for different models.
- Reseach about agroforestry, and other methods of sustainable agricultre. THere is a species of tree that is one of the fastest growing trees, it's called "Paulownia Tomentosa", might be useful too.
12. For hygiene:
- Very cool that you identified the possible soap tree. The soap tree is a great asset, if that wasn't one, it might be a good idea to think about planting some. Its fruits really act like soap, which can save a lot of money not having to buy any (or as much), and it can also be used for washing clothes. Just put a handful on a sock, tie the open end and put it inside the washing machine instead of the soap.
- Build a human powered washing machine. Lots of models on youtube. The most common is the one with a bycicle. Fun and low cost project that can save money and time.
Anyway, the project is looking great, and the lenght of this comment shows how much I'm liking it. Would love to visit one day!
Great advice, I hope they use all
Bamboo is extremely invasive. Planting it is bad advice.
not all bamboos are "extremely invasive", and even the ones that are, you ahve means of planting them without risk@@miguelazevedo4383
Seconded. Never plant non-native trees. Native animal and insect species would loose their habita.
Thanks for the tips and suggestions everyone! Always good to hear some other angles to a problem. We’re quite convinced we would be able to adapt to the highway noise over time. Solve it mentally. However, Project Kamp is a place with many visitors. The worry is that it would affect those coming since not everyone can go through an adaptation process like that. Waking up with the sound of a highway is not ideal. And our lifestyle here is very outdoor which makes it even more noticeable compared to indoor city life. And most people wouldn’t be sleeping in big stone houses like the locals. But simple structures/tents/vans. I think the heavy feeling comes from that, hoping we can make this a nice place for people contributing to the project in the future..
Visitors to project kamp will gain so much from visiting you that a little highway noise is really not that much of a worry. If they are so easily triggered then maybe they may not be the best visitors for you. You have land closeish to the highway so you will have noise. There are not so many places where this is absolutely zero audio evidence of humans around. I'm in the Spanish Campo just now and the sound of strimmers and chainsaws is there sooooo much. That's life. Maybe a few more fast growing trees in the right spot? I grew up next to a main road on a gorgeous piece of land. The benefits are better than the sound that you get used to. Good luck, I've been following what you do for a few years and am about to start a precious plastic thing and maybe even a volunteer visit. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't stress too much about the noise. Thanks for your work. : ) And yes, if you can fund off grid that would be amazing!!
Once you have visitors, there will be a constant level of noise anyway. If only one person snores in a tent, he or she will likely already be louder than the street. People who are used to traveling in tents or hostels will be able to handle some noises. If nothing works, playing some relaxed music is always a nice way to remove background noise. Don't worry, people will love your place :)
I can't stand noise pollution but would come and work with you in a heartbeat!
Many would endure much more to contribute to a project like this! Keep up the great work and excited to see where it goes!
In 5 to 10 years most cars will be full electric and very quiet. You should begin to hear the sound star to dissipate as time goes on. Once the trucks begin converting is when you will notice this the most.
Totally understand your ‘road noise’ dilemma, as you plan your development and investing significant sums. I bought a small house, farmland & woodland in France 2 years ago and settled in for my ‘year of observation’. It has turned into 2 years of observation and a lot of drawing plans for potential directions of development. As time has gone on and with time to contemplate some negatives / challenges, I realised that I am free to sell up and move on to another piece of land that better suits my personal needs and that this is absolutely fine - if I decide to do this I won’t have ‘failed’, I will have succeeded … in listening and adapting plans as my knowledge of my land and my needs increases. If you find yourself coming to terms with the noise and staying put, fabulous. If you learn that ‘industrial’ noise is definitely something you don’t want to live with, and choose to invest your time and resources in a different piece of land, fabulous! It’s all simply listening & learning x
Part of the problem you have now is that you will be hypersensitive to the noise because you are emotionally triggered....if you focus too much on it as a problem to be solved, it will probably get worse...If you are going to stay, do some work on making peace with it, letting it go as an issue and maybe you'll just accommodate it as part of life...
I lived within an 1/8 mile of a Railroad track right in town where it would blare the horn each day as it passed through. After a few weeks I never 'heard' it again because I automatically started filtering it out.
I live in Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world. I spend a year living in the forest in Chiapas, moving back to the city was a nightmare and even my cats where super stressed, but after a while you get use to it. It's so interesting to listen how the sound issue could make you rethink your choice for the location, but I agree is part of the hypersensitivity triggered by maybe other doubts about the project! Im sure it will go aways,
Exactly this. If you love the land and don't want to move just because of the sound you have to reframe what it means in your mind. I personally would think of it as my region of the country attracting more people and resources. Whenever you do notice the sounds you can be a little humble you get to live in such a beautiful area of a growing region.
Talking about power, with that small river flowing thru your land you could consider an water dam power plant. It would be an great experiment and you could build a very basic version out of a old washing machine motor. That would also work at night! I'd love to come and build one!
your brain will get used to the noise and ignore it, i grew up next to the train rails, lived there 26 years, and don't remember listening to the train unless i was paying attention to it.
I miss the train noise at night. Slept better when it was there, lol.
@@PK-ht1mi I too lived at rails, it was ok, but there was a scedule, there is none on highways. I would decide now if the noise is too much
I have 14 years tinnitus, so if you do your job and be busy with things, you hear It not. That is my experience.
Traffic noise has been a problem for us for many years,cwe have travelled around Europe, we have lived in different countries, and we can't escape Traffic noise.. we are currently in sweden in a sparsely populated area, and the traffic is driving us mental..
Highway sounds !!!
… I think we all across the world got used to less highway sound because of Covid restrictions …now the traffic is back we are noticing it again … even air traffic !!!
… the only thing you can do is ensure you do not cut trees and bushes in the highway direction and consider planting fast growing evergreen bushy trees (near where the sound disturbs you most, camp area?). ..
… probably best to do at least a couple of l rows (in brick like fashion) appropriately spaced bearing in mind the mature tree size rather than young tree size … but do not allow these to grow too high … top the middle branch (when it grows to a manageable height) … this will allow the trees to thicken and widen and form a natural sound barrier
… the sound is heightened at the moment because you are focusing on it and because it is a relatively new sound … this will fade into the background as you become used to it and it will not take up so much of you ‘attention space’
THE PROJECT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR and visitors will be focused on what you are trying to achieve, rather than background noise … so do not worry so much
Wishing you all the best … 🙏☘️😘
I think your best bet for power will be solar, especially with the large wide open treeless areas. As for water I’d turn that rainfall problem into your solution and collect it. Rain water is very easy to clean with basic consumer equipment to make it drinkable. Basic filter for leaves and dirt, fine particulate filter set, UV treatment, then pressurize it with a tank and air pump. Rainwater is also naturally soft so no having to deal with hard mineral filled water or sketchy farm runoff the the surrounding area. You can then heat the water with solar water heater setups ran into a normal hot water tank for storage if needed.
This is basically the American homestead movement starter kit for places that allow rainwater collection for drinking. It’s low cost, simple to maintain, DIY friendly, and all off the shelf supplies.
Great video, and love to watch, how this idea/dream developed.
Your “problem” reminds me to a good friend of mine who lives in the north east of the Netherlands. I must say say that i’m no expert and i have no personal experience, so i just share what i seen, and his advice, after we both watched your video.
He suggest to lookup at “hedera” plants to let this grow against fences. They grow faster then trees, and can easily cover a whole fence up to 6mtr high. Which is higher then you properly need.
So my friend lives near a busy highway too, that is located 5km away from him. He used construction building fences that are easy to place and take away again. He placed 2 on top of each other. (4 mtr high) And doubled them, and also strengthened them with cross fences and poles, so they wouldn’t tumble by winds.
He used the “hedera” plant to cover the whole fence. The fence is now so thick, that the high tone sounds don’t penetrate through that fence. However the low tones are the ones that you can still hear slightly, when the circumstances are the least favorable.
According to my friend, the plants grow pretty fast if you also plant several on both sides and in between of the fence. He said that he used about 10 cuttings per meter. Which he grew in pots before he planted them. He used a lot of samples taken from forrest and samples taken from his direct surroundings.
It did fully grow in 8 years, but had a noticeable result within a few years, after planting them.
Hope you can use his advice.
Cheers
Could talk with the Neigbors and see if a sound barrier can be installed in the highway. It's usually used in more dense areas but could help maybe. Or plant more trees
Next week
It is disappointing when you have this dream and picture of how you want things and they change or dont meet your expectations. It's hard to be open to changes and compromise. I hope the joy and beauty of your land and project!! Its such an incredible endeavor and a life changing experience!!!! Your are amazing people ❤
It's the wind... there's a phenomenon that happens in mountains, usually with water, where you can hear the water as if it was right next to you but it ain't, it's one of the reasons behind lots of disappearences in jungles, people tend to look for them and end up lost. I can't temember the name of it, but I crossed that info a few days ago.
I'm from Lisbon btw, I just joined your discord channel. Really glad to have found your channel! Keep it up!
Water fountains would act as a kind of active noise cancellation rigs. By checking the general sound frequency coming from the highway and tweaking the fountains to match that same frequency, they end up cancelling each other. Whenever there was sound coming from the highway the fountains would become way less audible and you'd just know why.
It's a pretty interesting project to try and learn from!
Impressive research! I love how the both of you and all the people around you are managing this. About highway-sounds..it’s all about attribution: what meaning you attach to it. Some alternative perspectives: The sound is a white noise, which our brain really like. It also made you look, hear, sense AND made good use of your problemsoving brain..a problem is only problem when you say it is..but whithout problems we get lazy and out of nature. Choose your battles wisely. Great challenge! Good luck!
I have build a pizza oven 5years ago. It was without a roof. Do not forget to build a roof over your pizza oven, otherwise it will start to crumble after 5 years. I used fireclay mortar and was very dissapointed with it. Maybe the brand or user error or no roof :D I switched the mortar with cement and was pretty happy with it. If you are using used firebrick (from old stoves) becarefull that it doesnt have asbestos in it. You can check online. If the stone is older then 1980 ?? I do not know the exact year, but everything older is fine to use. Your chimney is important aswell. The opening for the chimney must be higher than your opening otherwise the smoke will come out where you stand. I know it sounds simple, but I had to repair mine, because the draft was not good enough.
Do not make it too big. I know bigger is better, but you have to warm it up really long. If you decide to build it yourself. The easiest way is to use sand to form the inside of the oven and build the dome on the sand. After that remove the sand. Use an air compressor to get the sand out of the cracks. On my first pizza I had a lot of sand with it, because it fell from the dome :D Good luck. But the most important factor for good Pizza is your skill and not the oven. You can have a crappy oven and still make good Pizza. Took me 5 years to learn the skill to make pizza I am happy with. And now I will have to build a new one, but now improved
You don’t have to make a lot of fountains, just were you spend a lot of time. Your work station and your sleeping area. I moved by a very busy highway in Switzerland. In the beginning it was terrible but impossible as I thought it would be to get used to it I did. Now I was right above the highway on a hill. You are a kilometer and a half. I could hear the highway on your post. I would suggest giving it a bit more time and if it is still ruining hour zen then you will have to start looking for another place. I know, easier said than done. I’m really inspired by what your doing. Best wishes.
Trees which are not blocking the view won't really block the sound. Also, you recently brought a lot of equipment in and cleared a lot of land. Lastly, a single line of trees will provide minimal sound dampening. I would suggest considering three rows, being offset from each other. Start with 50/50 Pine and hardwood. The pine will grow faster; but will also be more brittle -- snapping off and falling on things. It will help mostly in the winter. The hardwoods will help support the pines once they manage to grow. Lastly, you probably will want to establish a canopy over the main area. This should be a small number of trees which will have a nice "roof" over your base camp. Once you are surrounded by trees and have your canopy, I think the noise of the road will seem less. Yes, it will still take a while; but it will start to work as soon as they are planted and just get better each year.
Vlogs are getting better and better each time, very fun to see the progress in filmmaking.
For the highway sounds: let the area you own in the direction of the highway grow wild to create as much mass between you and there as possible.
Or recycled plastic noise barriers...
I lived in Portugal about a km from a highway a bit like yours. You could even see the vehicles. Sometimes it felt like they were driving through the property they were so present. 70 percent of the time though had no idea it was there. As bushes and trees grew it was definitely better but not perfect. Wind direction, weather, and ambient noise was key. Usually wind blew the noise away.
I would imagine your preveiling wind would be from the direction of the highway. You have a lot more vegetation though.
It can be hard when a thing that irritates you is all you can notice. Of course we should focus on the positives and work from there. Looking at your situation I see a lot of positives. You have a lot of land so you can directly affect your environment around you. Things grow fast in Portugal. Water seems fairly abundant where you are, use all this to your advantage and it will become a paradise.
Cut a long story short I would focus on regenerating your environment and negatives will disappear, literally. If you can always hear the road at some point in the future perhaps just accept that it is there and then when you can't hear it (majority of the time) the quiet and beauty will be even sweeter!
Forget the noise, you have to resolve first the safety and cooling the containers. Summer is coming and this is a risk area in terms of fire, you must protect the base Kamp with water points, safe places (ex: underground shelter), other issue is the high temperature in the summer, containers must be isolated from direct sun, otherwise you will burn inside.
Good luck, and all the best for this project
Love your scientific approach to the highway noise. I perfectly understand your dilemma. It seems like certain people are less tolerable to noise, and I'm one of them. A few suggestions would be to build a elevated soil barrier; plant trees that attract birds to muffle the unnatural noises; or even build a cheap wooden fence on the side where the noise comes from.
This was a great video! I found it really interesting when you sat down and talked through your thoughts (why this was a big deal, doesn't every option come with problems, etc). It was a super productive way to go through a problem, which was helpful for my normally scattered brain. I hope it was helpful to you, and that this sound problem can at least be mitigated to some degree :)
Keep these videos coming Dave-- SUPER exciting work!
This was very interesting and helpful. When I buy my own land, noise level is going to be a big factor for me too. Now I’ll know what to look for!
As someone with tinnitus, the highway sounds would be very welcome for me for when it gets too quiet.
That's really interesting. I would never have thought of that.
Hello,
for the highway noise:
A) buy some animals, chicken, goats, dogs or feed the wild boar
B) buy a Caraoke Station and sing
C) build a Blacksmith Shop and work there a lot
and not recommended
D) live a week here at my home, between traintrack (the busyest in Germany), a lot industrial plants,
a school (840 kits) and a sport facilitie (3 soccer places and a hall, with all the car traffic)
For the school and sport Corona bring a lot of silence :-(, but I dont like Corona.
One of them will give you the peace you need, I prefer animals (the boar, this dampen also any other smell)
have fun, stay save and hope you have no bigger problems.
best regards from Germany
Gerhard
highways are hard to get away from. way better than being near an air traffic area. one time I picked a campsite I thought was so quiet, at night I start to hear rushing water. turns out i was only a few hundred feet from a river but couldnt hear it during the day. only when i relaxed at night
besides you are forgetting the highway provides you access to towns. It can bring workers in, facilitate trips to stores, and make getting supplies all easier. Ive been on properties that are 10-15 miles from a highway and usually the last part of the road is terrible being theres few properties way out there, makes the driving much slower.
adding 30 mins to 1 hour to a trip to town really adds up over the year. I will take a little noise and be slightly closer to town myself. Got really sick of driving 2.5/3 hour round trips for groceries or building supplies
I do understand about new noises when you've invested so much to be in a particular place. I just rent, but I live in NYC in a neighborhood called Inwood. Mostly I love this area. There are wonderful parks around, the Hudson River and the Harlem river are not far away, more low rises than most of the rest of Manhattan, and great people. But there is an issue of noise. I live in an apartment in the back, away from the street. The windows are heavy, double pane windows. Yet several times a week the music from parked cars and people on the street is so loud that I can barely think. On some occasions, it is so loud that it makes my eardrums vibrate. There are also people who drive off road vehicles on the streets, many motorcycles that have been modified to be even louder, and vehicles that do donuts in intersections. I work from home a lot. I work as an adjunct prof for several colleges. My work takes focus. The noises can make it practically impossible for me to get work done. In any case, I can't afford to move and, despite all of this, don't want to leave the city. I have earphones, fans, and noise cancelling machines to help me deal. I also have some fairly problematic fantasies of what I would like to do to the speakers and vehicles. It is hard to adjust to noise. I think it noises are invasive in ways that other things are not as much, except maybe smells.
Hello: Its been a year since this video was posted and wonder if the sound issue has been addressed? I too had quite a surprise when a season change brought much higher level of sound through a property. After some research and found my way through to how other cultures found ways to resolve such matters. I came to both Japanese Korean natural esthetic agricultural solutions. And yes, falling water onto rocks or water surfaces will bring a much softer sound that is much more pleasing while drowning out the road noise. Another I found useful was a small stand of tall growing bamboo where the wind rustling through the tal stand also brought more natural sounds closer that again overpowered the road noises. Then We also tried a different approach and this seemed strange though in practice it actually helped and other advantages as well. This was the use of a gravity filled bamboo that was filled with water to a tipping point and once full would tip on a hinge to empty itself then returning to a filling position with a clacking sound. The point of this is to interrupt the dreoning of say, road noise and to hear the more pleasant sound of the bamboo. To get a visual there are many examples online of these in use around ponds. In anycase we found this to actually help against road noise and with additional benefit of movement and sound to keep wild animals from going after a fish propagation pond.
My first apartment was in the fancy neighborhood of Beacon Hill in Boston.
I was seeing the apartment for the first time and every fifteen minutes the subway ran under the hill and every house/apartment on Beacon Hill and the State House shook.
It took two days to become completely numbed to it where I never noticed it.
Hopefully your ears unfocus upon those annoyances and let you enjoy your beautiful land in peace.
Probably BEST SOLUTION for now would be to:
Examine the sound paths (simply the wind directions and ways it gets from the highway to the kamp) and check where within is the free (no-mans) land and just plant there few "green walls" as soon as possible and using fast growing tall trees for that.
Here in Poland’s climate great would be poplar for example. Also birch is good and willow grows really fast but is not very tall - but willows can be good to plant closer to the camp, maybe on the outer border? This tree is super easy to plant (you need just a stick) and grows like crazy. But I don’t know if they’re suitable for your climate. I’m sure you’ll match something without problems :)
You will quickly adapt to new sounds only, if you consciously don’t pay attention at the beginning. It’s like when you start noticing you breath! Just the reverse.
We had a motorway very close with to us in England and noticed it when we moved in. Later, it became white noise and it was a good thing to have such good access. We only noticed the impact of its existence when lockdown happened.
You will get used to it. Just play music, a podcast for the moment and give it a few months 😊
I’d recommend getting into permaculture and use the rain as the key element to establish good tree cover and wind breaks. I think you can easily manage the highway noise issue by installing some tall windbreaks such as bamboo and other fast growing species in strategic places on the landscape... best of luck and enjoy the land!
Imagine the Highway noise is the sound of the sea. Or take it as a part of your mission. Project Kamp is not a utopian island immune from all the challenges of the world. The Highway sound reminds you of the anthropocene issues you are tackling and therefore to keep on pushing Project Kamp.
If the sound is the worst in the Kamp, then you should focus on this area. It is comparably easy to cover this place from sound than your complete property. A high hedge like the one you planted at the street in the last video can already help a lot as long as you live directly behind it. Having a garden with trees and bushes is also almost like acoustic foam that blocks sounds and their echos.
A simple sawhorse can be made with 5 logs of the size you have and is much safer than freehand sawing.
On the noise issue, contours will make a difference, plant more *fast* growing dense trees like the Cypress at the highest points between source and camp, won't solve it quickly, but it should improve with time. Are there any young trees you can transplant from elsewhere on the site. Have you though about carbon offset schemes to fund tree planting?
Tall berms can act as a sound barrier. It would take a day or two of heavy machinery for earthworks, plus you'd have to know exactly where you wanted to place them to create the sound shadow(s). Once they are in, you could plant them to absorb more sound, with anything from native plants to a vegetable garden. There's more to it than I've mentioned here, but I've never done it myself, though I've seen places near my home (Kansas flatland) where it's been done.
About the noise, maybe you can check "straw bale gardening", you can build a wall of straw bale in the right spot near base camp, and build a garden on top of it. Don't know how much maintainance will need, but it's a cheap solution for creating a sound barrier.
Heads up, our brain is an amazing thing, can filter out background noise. I used to have a garden cirka 200 meters from the road, and after a couple of months I stopped to notice the noise. Best way to turn it off is to turn your focus to something exciting. Hope this makes sense and things are going to work out well.
yeh agree. We would propbably get used to it. I guess the worry is also that Project Kamp is a place where many people will come and go. We want to create a nice place, where hopefully not everyone has to go to an adoptation process first. Hopefully the sound is less heavy on visitors..
@@ProjectKamp you are doing great job with the camp, it's already fascinating. I don't think anyone will focus on the road noise when visiting. There will be plenty exciting things to do, so I am absolutely sure people who are interested in the project will have amazing time there. Just keep on going and building your dream :)
Go solar. As some else mentioned below, its getting easier and easier to find second hand electric car batteries and they store a HUGE amount of energy (usually over 20kwh) and have a very long lifespan.
Also, inverters technology and solar panels are getting more affordable. Growatt has 220v 5kw inverters for $900 and you can daisy chain them to get more kw output if needed. I can't be there but hopefully I can share some knowledge.
You could also get a shipping container to store the batteries and all electric components.
Portugal's weather might not be the best for solar harvesting, but your energy requirements are not super high so it should work.
More info on the inverters ruclips.net/video/dCQIGPuPHCc/видео.html
Great advice sir.
As a Scot with a 4.2Kwh array which powers me 90% of the time. I would imagine Portugal to be pretty good for solar harvesting and they would have little issues if they pair it with a decent battery.
Yes, I completely agree. Especially with the minimum of 10k you would have to spend on a grid connection. For that money you can easily set up a basic solar grid with room for expansion. Also, with that river flowing thru your land a water dam power source would be a cool experiment!! You can make one form an electric washing machine motor. Generates more than you think and also works at night! I'd love to come and build one ;)
In your big development section you had the answer to your sound problem. If you are thinking about reforestation then you you will have a barrier. I have 20 acres about 2.5 miles away from a highway. I don’t even notice any more. Being from NYC, now living in Alabama on so much land, with my nearest neighbor almost a mile away is fantastic. Sounds like a small inconvenience.
If its quieter near the creek on your land, perhaps move base camp to that area? Otherwise look at it in a different way - just be thankful you are in a nice bush setting and not driving on the highway:-)
im so sorry for you guys! :( anyway before to choose to leave i think you should search the higher pointsin your land and build big walls (like barriers) and the plant with fast growing bushes! in the place where i grow up usually was a help! give it a try , schöne projekt alles zusammen! big hugs and stay positive.
You can build a wall directly next to the highway. (Let build) with permission of the authority. Or make a deal with the neighbours to build a Soundblocking fence on theire land. Just an idea
What do you expect? If it isn't going to be "highway" sound, it'll be agricultural machinery! You are not so far away from people!! It's normal. I live in a very quiet part of Paris, surrounded by buildings, it's quieter here than a friends house in the country, agricultural sounds can be a problem too! You'll cover the sound with your own noise!!
Het verhaal over de waterfontijn klopt, en hoeft geen hele grote te zijn. Als je er eentje in de vijver plaatst, hoor je de snelweg niet meer, omdat het geluid van het kletterende water, dat overstemd. Maar... dan kan het wel zo zijn, dat je de hele dag het gevoel hebt, dat je plassen moet....
Misschien kan je een waterpomp, in de vijver plaatsen, en dan een riviertje maken, zodat het water terugloopt naar de vijver.. dat is al iets minder hard geklater.....
Veel geluid van een weg, hangt inderdaad af van de windrichting.
Did you notice the high way more after the Containers arrived? Maybe the base camp is louder because metal is reflecting the sound? Than you may have to put a vertical garden on the outside!?
This is actually well observed! I'd say worth looking into...
People have mentioned sound barriers (near the highway) and berms (on your land). It's unlikely that the first is economically justifiable; the second might be, if your permaculture-style observations reveal that creating a dam/lake/swales (say if you are going to explore keyline design to manage water distribution) is worth it - that would give you surplus earth/stone with which to create a berm - or in combination with surplus timber from your land, a 'rustic' criblock retaining wall. This could be designed to have low visual impact, as well as maybe create wildlife habitat or local micro-climate improvements. A lot of work/energy to create though!
The other thing to measure is how many decibels the intrusive sound is, and the frequency (in both senses - hertz and regularity). Different sound frequencies are harder/easier to tackle. Definitely good to analyse the site, maybe your findings will help you decide where certain zones are created. As someone else said, at the moment you are super-aware of the sound because you are creating very few aural distractions yourself!
You could also mask the sounds, not with water noise (makes people want to pee!) but with the wind itself - if you plant species that rustle, swish and flutter in the breeze, those sounds will help disguise the traffic noise - birch trees, poplars, bamboos, lots of options.
Probably creating a combination of all these things will mean you are too busy to notice the noise :)
I like your suggestions a lot!
I used to live next to motorway. When they've replaced the surface for a new one, we had to move out, as the noise doubled up. After 6 years of living there, when we were buying the house, first thing was can we hear street noice. It's a massive problem, and it becomes bigger and bigger, as you tend to get tired of that, and it starts to be a nuisance.
It's so cute, but I think you are just there too much alone. When people come and visit, you'll forget it, will not hear it at all. You just hear it now, because that is your pink elephant right now. But yes, I know how it feels.
I love the comments on it from the others, what you all learn here, I mean people have the coolest studies and jobs, you never heard of :)
Nice things added to project camp happenings, wow. I wish I could come and built that pizza oven for you. Very important indeed if you can find good mud within your own area, good clay soil. You have to dig a bit deep,, but you'll find it :)
Till someone comes to build it, collect some glass, so you can crash it later on and use it on the oven, at the base.
And if you would find that mud, later on you can all built tiny houses from it too. Just let me know, and I send you the information how to make your own loam brick.
I have some good ideas also for the kitchen and cooking outside if you are interested let me know :) You have my mail address too.
I understand your feelings about the highway .
I live in the netherlands outside a industrial park.
Lovely small spot with a creek and some big mayple trees.
I hear the highwsy specially when the wind is east. But the energy of the place is just fantastic.
So i do not hear it anymore...
I am happy on my land with a lot of niets, rabbits and a beaver family...
Of course i do not own The place thats a point...
Maybe try a couple of spaced out rammed earth walls around the perimeter of the camp. It'll look beautiful and help dampen the noise. Plus no extra materials required if the dirt from the land is used.
If that's too much noise, then you'll likely spend an enormous amount of time finding a better location than what you already have. Roll with it and keep going. I practically live on top of a highway and you will quickly stop noticing the traffic. Keep it up!
Perhaps your containers are picking up the sounds from the wind or ground and are amplifying them by resonating certain frequencies. Anything big and hollow made out of metal can do this. Like windmills for example. Noisy stuff. Many issues with them emitting low hums and whistles when the wind starts experimenting with them.
Please remember that your land recently experienced a forest fire that decimated the foliage on your land. In a few years, much of the new growth will absorb most of the sound from nearby roads. In all, I would rather have the road instead of lawnmowers, etc..
I need to make rustic furniture for our gtfo property too. I need to get fire number/address for my property. Bury the power lines. You can put down a point well yourself. We get lake sounds at our property boats and jet ski's. Is someone laying on the jake brake? Think its the elevation of the highway. Grow hops to block noise or other vines. Bushradical has few videos on point wells.
Really nice bench you've built. I would recommend you to heat treat the ends that are in the ground to make it last longer. Same goes for your tent posts from the last video.
For covering up sounds with trees you would need an at least 30m quite dense mixed hedge with bushes and trees. If it isn’t dense it also transfers the sound much better. The problem though is that you are in a risk area for bush fires so that might be also in this way not an ideal solution. Another solution could be a mound with soil and bushes or a wall(noise barrier/Lärmschutzwand in German ) with sound swallow materials (plants for instance, artificial one are expensive and need maintenance ) as high as the containers are. This solution needs not that much space as a hedge. In any way to solve the problem you need to find a way to transport the sound waves from the roads over the noisy areas it will be in any way cost intensive. It is also clear problem of noise pollution and their are also Eu legislation for that. So maybe there is also a solution that the municipality/ district or federal has to provide something. Don’t know,… if that makes sense and maybe that could be even slower to grow a hedge, but just an idea. Hope that helps to some extent with the problem.
Has anyone else noticed how the fields/ trees on your land look like a pair of lungs? Fitting as you are going for a clean sustainable way of living
In Sydney, Australia, the airport is do close to the city that peuple have to live under the flight path. Even on some really expensive houses 1m€+ the sound of it is so bad that while a plane goes over the neighbourhood you have to pause tv or stop talking while the plane was over you in order to keep up the conversation! That was epic, but hey lived RIGHT UNDER that flight path for 4years and I didn’t care anymore I barely noticed unless I had friends over! =) hopefully your brain gets used to it fairly fast and then you won’t notice it anymore!
The benefit of the highway is that you’re near infrastructure. There are lots of places with minimal sound, but those places often don’t have infrastructure. You have nearby access to a library, cell service, internet, electricity, roads that a government maintains, mail delivery, grocery and hardware stores, vehicle repair, garbage and recycling service, neighbors, medical services, etcetc. I’ve lived in rural Montana and North Dakota where there’s no highway noise, but a grocery shopping trip is literally a full 15 hour effort of driving and shopping, and that’s just the start. Don’t have the right hinges for a project? Those also require a full day to acquire. Oops, forgot screws? Guess what. Don’t cut yourself badly or fall down and knock yourself out. Routine oopsies become major life events when you have no road.
I guess what I’m saying is that road noise is the sound of people bringing you things you need.
What a fantastic point of view.
I think I heard the highway, but could have been imagination or the microphone rustle, too.
If it really bugs you for a longer time, you already had some great tips here - trees etc. I would perhaps suggest looking into the techy solution of a big scale noise cancellation, where a device sends out the counter wave sound, resulting in no sound behind the device. As for my understanding, the closer this decide would stand to the highway, the bigger area it should affect behind it. But I'm not entirely sure about the workings of such a thing, nor do I even know if sth like this exists.
Maybe you are just mooore aware about the sounds because usually is very calm and quiet. Probably with more people around talking, working, being or so... I didn't really hear anything but really hope isn't thaaaaat bad. Liked the bench 👏🏼⚡
My thoughts exactly, add to that your primarily living outdoors, and in uninsulated "structures".
There's a really plus side on being that close o a highway: it is less likely that in a few years, they would want to build a new highway that would go though your land.
When I read the title I really though that the problem was that a new highway would go near or even on your land.
If you are planning to plant some trees consider planting fast growing willow (e.g. tora or olof). These bad boys can grow fast. In 3 years they grow 6m in height and 10 cm in diameter and they grow dense together. Later use them as a biomass once you get the woodchipper donation.
Also have you considered moving the base camp to a location within the territory where the noise levels are the lowest? Use the natural noise barriers you already have.
regarding sounds: probably the wind. note down when you hear them and and compare with the wind direction.
(well, i should have watched on, because you did exactly that anyway :D)
well: put up some wind generators, they will be louder in any case, but you will enjoy the sound because it's from something you like. ;)
One possible solution to the highway sounds is to plant a barrier made of bamboo (instead of trees) because bamboo makes a more dense barrier, with less holes, and it also grows much faster than trees, 6 months to 2 years. Just investigate a bit about the species of bamboos you will plant because some of them spread like plagues.
you could try talking with the locals and try to understand what they think about the highway noise. here in Italy, when the highway is near to home/villages, it must have sound barriers (like huge plexiglass next to the road).
The most correct and environmentally friendly remedy for preventing highway noise is to plant dense and high trees on the field border in the direction of the sound. This environmental system blocks both sound and wind.
It happens often that the sound is being reflected by the clouds and people living further away will hear it very loud while people living much.closer might not even recognize it. That phenomenon hit us quite often during parties we made...
Flowing water will definitely help. Do you have a river or stream near by you can divert water through the kamp? Building a pond with flowing water like a small waterfall is a great way to farm fish to eat too.
In holland by the motorways you have the perspex screens,about 25 feet high curved in to the traffic.they work.just put a line of them up they are clear.
Make noise yourself. Windbells, Windmill to pump water and even if it just do mix up the water in the lake, start beekeeping, bee buzz around.
the water fountain / moving water thing is ridiculous. but works. chills you out, too.
Could you make a dam for your spring and raise the water height? If so, you could do a micro hydro power installation! That could give you a more steady supply of electricity. You could also pipe the water far away to get more height difference if the property will allow it.
Perhaps due to covid there were less trucks crossing from and to Spain and less traffic in general?
One advantage of that highway is easier forest fire escape :/
I'd find another spot that's really quiet and not surrounded by eucalyptus trees to build on your next episode in life. Portugal + Eucalyptus = high risk.
Good thing is you have water now.
For a decade i lived within 200 meters of a trainyard. You get super used to it in a short while. After a year we didnt notice it at all. We slept like babies at night even when they bumped traincars. Sounds like a luxery problem, that you are a bit too focused on, good Sir.
I was born in New York City. Noise was part of life. At 27 I moved to suburban Philadelphia and it took me forever to get used to quiet. The first time my brother from my brother from NY came to visit, he said he couldn't sleep because it was too quiet. So, you will not notice it after a while. One of the farmers in Central Portugal has a dog next door that bark ALL day. That would bother me.
An obvious suggestion would be planting trees that will grow tall enought, combiened with thick growing shurbs, that will work as a living sound-barrier
I think for the sound problem sound barriers just next to the highway is the best solution saw couple of them in Spain
Check the local legislation towards sound pollution, maybe there is a way that government is putting sound reflecting/ absorbing walls along the highway, as the measure to reduce the sound. If currently there are no mitigation measures applied, probably during the design of the highway there were no such norms, they can be applied as the environment is changing and the traffic has been increased turning in to sound pollution.
@Conceição Reis EU is giving the money for these purposes, it's all about the activity of the country. It wont be easy task (if getting address took so much time + paper) and yes this is difficult. In general : local people shall have common view! Need to find NGO or representative who can fight for this in other levels and then maybe it can happen, and it's not easy task indeed. Probably strong local, environmental NGO shall help with this.
Sound can carry really far (as does smell). E.g. when the wind is south and the wind is strong, we can smell the coffee factory which is 20 minutes from us. If there's a festival, you can also hear it kilometers far away.
highway sound made me sleep very well in the night
I live just shy of half a mile from an Interstate, less than a kilometer. In the summer I can't hear it, but in the winter, when the trees have no leaves, I can hear it. But since I've lived here nearly 40 years I'm obviously fine with it. I am also in a big city, the 10th largest in the U.S., so it really could be worse.
Did you look at the land during the pandemic? When everyone was at home? And now we're all getting back to work, so more cars etc.
I've lived near by highways and main roads my whole life. You get used to it, it's quietest Sundays and holidays.
Look into fast growing hedges. There are some species that grow incredibly fast, large, and dense. They can be planted in rows or randomly. They can be planted very close together as well!
Man! If that is your big problem you are living a good life my friend.
1:00 When making bushcraft, make tipods, your bench will collapse from skewing pressure.
Love your Vids! Keep the work up!
as you are new to the area and surroundings, you're probably hyper-aware of everything, hence the noise from the highway being more noticeable. When I moved a few years ago, there was a lot more traffic next to the house, which concerned me, but I don't notice it after a while. Also, as you said it's only sporadic that you hear it, thankfully. So, I think you'll begin to not notice it, even more so as the site becomes busier and more active with people.
For €20.000 you can buy a lot of solar power :)
Exactly
They are asking for €100K in funding for their solar setup though. Makes hooking up to the grid look a lot more attractive.
@@Linuxxl that's way too much.
I can supply that Basecamp with their current needs for power with 6 car batteries and 2k euro in equipment. One small turbine and a couple solar panels and an inverter. That's all they need right now.
@@ryanmcewen415 That was what I was thinking. The RUclips channel "Kris Harbour Natural Building" has a nice setup (sun, wind and hydro) and is able to run 3phase equipment with no problems.
you mentioned the springs, and you have cleared them a bit --- but can you clear that more, so that you have running water? There's your white noise!
I live between 3 freeways, less than ⅛th mile away in any direction. It sucks. Not only the sound, but the dust generated as well. A sound wall along the highway, a wall of trees and shrubs, vines/ivy on walls and other hard surfaces will reduce sound further. Also a water feature can maybe reduce the din as well .
Install a small wind turbine. It will make noise which will damp the highway one and keep you off the grid :-)
It’s strange I lived 2 kms from a railway viaduct in wagga on some nights the train seemed to be coming thru the front door from memory it was on still overcast nights maybe cloud cover
I live near a main road, tram, and railroad. After 6 months, it's complete white noise to me. A friend that was visiting pointed it out to me but I really couldn't notice it at all.