01BRÜEL & KJÆR CASE STUDY – SAFEGUARDING NEIGHBOURS FROM CONSTRUCTION NOISE - LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND

SAFEGUARDING NEIGHBOURS FROM CONSTRUCTION NOISELONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND

CASE STUDY

A project to modernise Twickenham railway station before the 2015 Rugby World Cup faced neighbours who are sensitive to noise. An outsourced monitoring solution ensured legal compliance and provided a web-based interface. Sharing data with the community and construction company built trust, reducing complaints and helping to avoid delays and fines.

CHALLENGENoise is an issue for the neighbours at Twickenham Station and with yet another construction project, the local government authority – the borough – sought a system to ensure it stayed within permitted levels

RESULTSThe system openly showed residents that the contractor complied with permitted levels throughout the majority of the project period. No complaints were filed after the system had been implemented

SOLUTIONBrüel & Kjær’s Noise Sentinel service kept watch on the noise levels 24/7. On a community web page, everyone interested could view the construction progress, noise levels, and mitigation efforts

Mary’s Terrace

BRÜEL & KJÆR CASE STUDY – SAFEGUARDING NEIGHBOURS FROM CONSTRUCTION NOISE - LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND 02

BACKGROUND Residential properties stand only a few feet away from Twickenham railway station, separated by a concrete wall. Over the past few years, regular improvement works on the tracks have caused disturbance to residents who already live with high background noise. Not surprisingly, the area has a history of frequent noise complaints.

The Twickenham projectThe Twickenham Rugby Stadium in London will be hosting both the opening match and finals of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In order to handle the pressure of tens of thousands of additional passengers, considerable changes were necessary, and £5.2 million was granted to improve the station.

The work included refurbishing the footbridge between the station and the parallel road: Mary’s Terrace, replacement of an

old footbridge connecting the platforms, resurfacing most of the station area, and making the area between the platforms and ticket hall step-free. As well as making a good first impression on thousands of rugby fans, and preparing it for their long-term needs, it was intended to address the expected increase in local passengers in the future – up from the five million who already use the station every year.

THE CHALLENGEKeeping the public in focusHeavy traffic, trains and overflying aircraft are part of the everyday noise in the area, but recurring maintenance work on the railway tracks has considerably lowered the noise tolerance in the neighbourhood.

The borough (local authority) was therefore well aware of the necessity for controlling the noise levels from the construction project,

“AFTER WE HAD THE NOISE SENTINEL SYSTEM INSTALLED, WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY COMPLAINTS, AND WE RECEIVED POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE RESIDENTS.”Chris Hurst

Principal Environmental Health Officer

London Boroughs of Richmond

upon Thames & Merton

Image from twickerati.wordpress.com

03BRÜEL & KJÆR CASE STUDY – SAFEGUARDING NEIGHBOURS FROM CONSTRUCTION NOISE - LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND

and wanted to make sure that certain noise limits were not exceeded. At the same time, they wanted to be able to communicate the activities at the site, including the expected noise and the actions taken to control it. Through good communication, they hoped to build understanding and earn trust from the neighbours, hopefully resulting in fewer complaints and avoiding project delays.

borough needed its own measurement data if it was to manage the noise impact effectively.

Avoiding costly delays from complaintsPerforming work on rail tracks requires closing down the station for set periods during nights and weekends, and then reverting everything back to its normal operating condition for the next daily commute into London. Should delays occur, significant penalties would be imposed on the contractor by the railway company.

Construction unused to noise limitsConstruction companies are normally obliged to demonstrate how they will control noise, and provide monitoring if necessary. However, construction on UK railways is designated ‘permitted development’. This means the contractors do not have to apply for planning permission, and are not required to comply with any conditions controlling noise. Agreements were made between the construction contractor and the borough regarding permitted noise levels, but the

Limited resourcesTypically, local authorities monitor construction noise using attended measurements. However, in this case, they did not have the budget, equipment or staff to constantly attend the construction site. But they still needed a way to hold the contractor to the agreed terms and conditions, and a way to prove if these were neglected.

The platforms at Twickenham station before the modernization works – showing some of the private residences to the right

“THE REAL-TIME WEB INTERFACE MADE THE CONTRACTOR AWARE THAT WE HAD ENFORCEMENT, AND THAT WE COULD USE THIS SHOULD WE NEED TO GO TO COURT.” Chris Hurst, Principal Environmental Health Officer,

London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames & Merton

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THE SOLUTIONThe borough had previously used the Noise Sentinel service to monitor construction projects, and therefore knew even in the planning phase of this project that the service would meet their requirements perfectly.The system does exactly what they needed: It keeps watch 24/7, and gives immediate alerts when noise limits are breached. It is calibrated, which means the data will hold up to any legal challenge, and all current and historical data – including sound clips – are accessible in the cloud at all times. Most importantly for the borough, Noise Sentinel comes with a stakeholder website that they could advertise to the general public, and on which they could share the noise data and highlight their activities.

Anyone interested could access the stakeholder website, but the closest neighbours were also emailed a direct link to a more detailed site, where they could follow noise levels in real-time, listen to sound clips, and compare everyday noise levels with those generated at nights and weekends, for example.

The construction contractor was able to use the same system to monitor their noise impact. Alerts in the form of emails or SMS messages signalled excessive noise, and enabled them to stop activity before a breach occurred. If a breach happened, they would know the cause. They could then use the stakeholder website to explain the breach, and either make sure it did not happen again, or advise the community when it could be expected to happen again.

RESULTSWith Noise Sentinel, the borough got a system that could keep track of the noise activities at the construction site, while maintaining the data to back up the requirements they made of the contractor. The noise data history and sound clips of individual breaches gave them the tools to investigate who or what triggered an alert. With such robust noise data in hand, the council was able to put pressure on the contractor to ensure noise level compliance. As a result, the contractor was able to take extra precautions.

Any construction-related noise complaints were handled quickly and directly, using the available noise level and audio data, thus

satisfying both the complainants and the council. Temporary re-housing during the works was a solution for some residents, while others chose to live with the noise impact, content with knowing when it would occur and for how long.

As a result of using Noise Sentinel, the borough was able to demonstrate noise compliance all the way through construction. Critically, the project finished on time, without any delays or fines.

CONCLUSIONJudging by the absence of complaints received by the council, the Noise Sentinel system has fulfilled its purpose by creating knowledge and understanding about the project, holding noise levels within tolerable limits, and transparently keeping nearby residents informed.

The elected representatives of the local area have vividly expressed their enthusiasm about the system, and the tools it provided to them and their stakeholders.

The proximity of

Mary’s Terrace to

London Heathrow

Airport and the

Twickenham Rugby

Stadium

Google Maps