Austrian Showcase for Infrastructure

NOISE PROTECTION

Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest

24th of September, 2014

National Railway Company CFR S.A.

THE NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY “CFR” SA

The Romanian railway network has a total track length of 20,077 km,

being the seventh largest network in the European Union.

The lines are connected by means of 20,070 equivalent points and

switches.

The network includes 17,945 bridges and culverts, 176 tunnels and

11,473 km of embankments.

The components of the public railway infrastructure are listed in Annex

no. 2 to the Government Decision no. 581/1998, published in the Official

Gazette no. 349 of 10.09.1998, with its further amendments.

THE RAILWAYS, “THE PROTECTOR" OF THE ENVIRONMENT

The environmental strategy of CNCF CFR - SA,

the overall objectives established:

• integrated pollution prevention and control by

using the best available techniques for the

activities having an impact on the environment;

• environmental impact assessment in the initial

phase of a project, for the activities having a

significant impact on the environment;

• maintenance and improvement of the

environment quality;

• rehabilitation of areas affected by pollution;

• implementation of environmental management

and auditing systems;

• education and public awareness and

involvement of the public in the environmental

decision development and enforcement process.

Depending on the needs and possibilities of the

different companies or infrastructures,

numerous studies have been prepared and many

solutions have been adopted in order to reduce

the railway noise.

The mounting of sound-absorbing panels along

the lines, the reduction in the irregularities of

the wheels and tracks, the introduction of

composite brake blocks for freight wagons

upon the introduction of new types of lines, all

these solutions show the tireless efforts of the

railmen to turn “the voice of train wheels” into

a ...metaphor!

“THE VOICE OF TRAIN WHEELS" MUST BECOME JUST A

…..METAPHOR!

MONITORING OF NOISE POLLUTION BY PREPARING STRATEGIC

RAILWAY NOISE MAPS

Why noise maps?

Strategic noise map = a representation of the information on one of the following

aspects:

• the existing, past and future acoustic condition according to a noise

indicator;

• an exceeded limit value;

• the estimated number of houses, schools and hospitals in a certain area,

which are exposed to certain values of the noise indicator;

• the estimated number of the persons settled in an area exposed to noise.

Given its obligations set down in the Government Decision no. 321/2005,

republished, with its further amendments and supplements, CN CF”CFR”-SA

prepares the strategic noise maps and the action plans for the main railways.

REQUIREMENTS FOR RAILWAY NOISE MAPS

Model of Railway Noise Map

Train category

Number of wagons

Speeds

Braking

Type of permanent way

Road geometry

Area geometry

Weather conditions

Model with description of sources

Propagation Model

Noise

Map

During the period of time 2012-2013, CNCF”CFR”SA prepared – in

accordance with the legal provisions, the strategic noise maps and the action

plans for the main railways along the railway routes with a traffic level of

over 30,000 passages of trains/year, namely the Bucureşti Nord – Brazi

Route.

The strategic noise maps and the action plans can be found on the site of

CFR, at the address: http://www.cfr.ro/cfr/

There has also been created a Website for informing the public with regard to

the results achieved as a consequence of the preparation of the strategic noise

maps, which uses the Web technology – GIS

(reference:http://noise.eionet.europa.eu/index.html) at the address:

http://zgomot.cfr.ro.

AMBIENT NOISE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

RAILWAY NOISE CALCULATION METHODS IN THE EU

Calculation Methods

• - France – NMPB/XPS 31 – 133

• - Austria – ÖNORM S5011

• - The Nordic Countries – (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) / Temanord 524

• - The United Kingdom and Ireland – CRTN

• - Germany and Luxembourg – Schall 03 Method

• in the absence of an own method, Romania had to adopt the calculation method of the Netherlands – RMR (SRM 2)

Noise is defined as a sound generated in the air, at a high unexpected or

undesired level, whereas it can be better defined by means of a group of

sounds.

The perception of sound or noise is very subjective: a person can perceive a

sound as music, while another person can perceive the same sound as noise.

The two terms sound/noise are used as synonyms, although we can hardly

define a sound generated by a road as being anything else that noise.

The sound (or noise) propagation has three components:

• source;

• transmission way;

• receiver.

SOUND PERCEPTION

The decibel scale for noise limits

Quiet rural environment

Hearing threshold

Inside of a house

Normal conversation

Pneumatic puncher

Crowded road traffic

Rock band

Painful threshold

Night limit: 40 dB(A), on the outside of inhabited buildings

(Order of the Health Minister no. 596/July 1997)

Day limit: 50 dB(A), on the outside of inhabited buildings

(Order of the Health Minister no. 596/July 1997)

Limit for (connecting) roads of the Category II and at the border of the operational areas: 65 dB(A)

Limit for (collecting) roads of the Category II: 70 dB(A)

STRATEGIC NOISE MAP - INDICATOR L DayEveningNight

FOR THE BUCHAREST- BRAZI ROUTE - YEAR 2012

STRATEGIC NOISE MAP - INDICATOR L NIGHT

FOR THE BUCHAREST- BRAZI ROUTE - YEAR 2012

After consulting the noise maps and the actual

field situation, there were identified the following

solutions:

• action on the source: actions on vehicles, track,

speed restrictions, etc.;

• action on the noise propagation way: sound-

absorbing or sound-reflecting panels and other

modern methods;

• action on the receivers: sound-absorbing plating

of buildings, highly sound-absorbing panes.

POTENTIAL NOISE MITIGATION SOLUTIONS

The strategic noise maps for the lines with a traffic level of over 30,000

passages of trains and the action plans prepared by CN CF “CFR“ SA

were approved:

• by the competent environmental authorities;

• by means of the Order of the Transport Minister no. 1103 of June 25,

2014, “regarding the approval of the strategic noise maps and the action

plans for the main railways with a traffic level of over 30,000 passages

of trains/year of CNCF”CFR”SA”.

AUTHORITIES INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF APPROVING

THE MAPS AND THE ACTION PLANS

POSTER FOR PRESENTING THE

NOISE MITIGATION ACTION

PLAN, THE SECTORAL

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME –

TRANSPORT 2009- 2013

SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS

In order to be mounted on the railway infrastructure of CFR, the

sound-absorbing panels must:

• be approved by the Romanian Railway Authority (AFER), in acc.

with the Order of the Transport Minister no. 290/2000

• have a high TL absorption coefficient

• the materials used for their manufacturing must meet the

requirements set down in the European regulations

• be accompanied by compliance certificates and maintenance and

operation rules

• comply with the requirements of SR EN 1794:2011; SR EN

1793:2013

As far as the completed or ongoing projects are concerned, the railway noise

mitigation measures taken are related to the mounting of sound-absorbing

panels, as in the table below:

Curre

nt no.

Route Type Distance

(about)

Comments

1. 1 Bucuresti Nord - Chitila

(initiative of SRCF)

Concrete panels 2.5 km Achieved

1. 2 Câmpina - Predeal Concrete panels 4.2 km Achieved

1. 3 Radna - Simeria Metallic profiles

embedded in

prefabricated

elements

2.63 km Set down in the

Technical

Design

(under

tendering)

1. 4 Sighişoara -Simeria Concrete panels 10.621

km

Under

construction

1. 5 Border km 614, area of

the localities Sofronea

and Arad

Concrete panels 2.2 km Under

construction

ONGOING/COMPLETED PROJECTS FOR AMBIENT NOISE

MANAGEMENT

AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE

BUCHAREST – BRAZI RAILWAY ROUTE

(km 7+700) – Fast train and freight train in the area of the halt “The Bucharest Marshalling Yard”. In the middle, the railway line to Urziceni and Otopeni

AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE

BUCHAREST – BRAZI RAILWAY ROUTE

Commuter train passing by an area protected

by sound-absorbing panels

AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG

THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG

THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG

THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

OTHER METHODS FOR MITIGATING THE NOISE “AT THE SOURCE”

BY MOUNTING CLIP-ON NOISE ABSORBERS

Figure 1: Mounted noise absorber

The mitigation achieved with the help of this system

The reduction in the noise level according to the frequency, overlapped on the

frequency characteristic of a train:

- the red curve represents the initial situation

- the blue curve represents the situation after mounting the absorbers

EXAMPLE OF PANELS ADEQUATE FOR THE URBAN

ENVIRONMENT:

In the urban environment, the panels must capture something of the elements of the

neighboring structures such as a dominant material or a certain building style, whereas

plants should be incorporated in case of a green area.

On the medium- and long-term, the railway strategies should include

proposals for reducing the railway noise level by means of plans/projects

for:

• introducing modern rolling stock;

• replacing the cast-iron brake shoes with composite brake shoes – of

the LL Type for the retrofitted wagons or of the K Type for the new

wagons, for the freight wagons;

• acoustic retrofitting of locomotives/selecting more quiet sources;

• using noise absorbers for the tracks;

• adjusting the permanent way and the wheels;

• using sound-absorbing panels;

• using combined screening.

LONG-TERM RAILWAY NOISE MITIGATION STRATEGIES

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!