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For much of the past two weeks, Burtonsville resident George Brown has been awoken by an unusual alarm clock.

Every night between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., he has been jostled out of his sleep by a loud "BANG, BANG, BANG," the sound of Inter-County Connector bridge construction taking place just 30 yards from his front door, he said.

Brown is among a handful of residents who live near the work site on Columbia Pike between Fairland Road and Briggs Chaney Road, where overnight construction of the first in a series of steel overpass bridges started Oct. 26. The sound of construction crews splicing steel and hammering nuts and bolts has both kept his family awake and caused him to lose sleep vital to effectively doing his government job, he said.

"I need to make sure I'm on top of my stuff, and it's been extremely difficult," he said. Brown works as a supervisory public health analyst with the Department of Health and Human Services. He manages $500 million of taxpayer money for health care, a position he said requires long hours and high levels of concentration.

"For as long as this thing has been going on, I've never had any opposition," he said of ICC construction. "I've just wanted it to be as little impact [as possible] on my family."

But what Brown has experienced has tested his patience and even made him think about moving, he said.

Over the summer, vibrations caused by construction shook his house, he said. He sent ICC officials a video of a pot of water shaking on his stove, the ripples proof that his house was affected by the construction. The proximity of the construction site to his house — it's right at the end of his driveway, he said — causes him to worry about water runoff pooling on his property. Now, a sleep-deprived Brown has been e-mailing officials about the noise issue, signing one of his e-mails sent at 2:30 a.m., "While you are sleeping, George Brown."

One night last week, Brown sent his first-grader son and fifth-grader daughter to stay with friends so they wouldn't lose any more sleep due to construction. "It's absolutely maddening," he said.

Two weeks ago, District 21 legislators from the College Park area drafted a request that state officials offer ICC discounts for nearby residents, though there are currently no plans for such discount and the state's financial situation makes legislators question its feasibility.

Noise from construction is an issue that ICC officials are sensitive to, said spokeswoman Fran Counihan. The crews did not anticipate such high levels of noise, but they need to proceed with overnight construction to get their work done, she said.

"I can't think of too many things that are worse than not getting a good night's sleep, but we are continuing to monitor the noise and discuss with our contractors anything they can do to bring some type of relief to our residents," she said. "We certainly appreciate their sacrifice."

So far, Counihan said she has heard complaints from four residents including Brown. All of them have been offered hotel vouchers for the nights of construction, something Brown said he plans to accept.

Construction must occur overnight when traffic levels are down, because the road is closed for 15-minute intervals while crews place the structural steel necessary to connect pillars already in place, she said. As of this weekend, she said the construction moved from Brown's house but will likely affect other residences along Route 29.

"It's sort of uncharted territory, but we certainly are committed to working with the residents," she said. After this week's construction, there will be no other road work until the beginning of 2010, she said.

Residents who are interested in securing hotel vouchers due to noisy ICC construction can call Ray Feldmann, ICC community outreach coordinator, at 866-462-0020. Officials will look at each of the complaints on a case-by-case basis, Counihan said.