The system that monitors noise from Bob Hope Airport is about to get an overhaul for the first time in 30 years.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday tapped Lochard Corp., an international airport logistics firm, to replace its aging noise-monitoring gear. The cost for the new equipment at 20 sites around the city is $737,000.
After a year, the airport will also pay Lochard at least $92,000 a year for maintenance and warranties, according to the agreement.
Airport officials said the existing system dates back to 1980 and works well, but the manufacturer has declared it obsolete.
"We've had great success with it," said airport environmental programs director Mark Handyment. But with the equipment out of production, "you are down to spare parts to keep your system alive."
The airport will upgrade existing monitors — essentially microphones on poles or standards scattered in the neighborhoods near the airport — and install three new ones. Monitoring stations are located as far north as Vineland Avenue near Roscoe Boulevard, as far south as Burbank Boulevard near Hollywood Way; and from the intersection of Sherman Way near the Hollywood Freeway in the west to San Fernando Boulevard at Buena Vista Street in the east.