scholarly journals The contribution of LIFE+ NADIA project on the implementation of the European Directive on Environmental Noise

Noise Mapping ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuele Schiavoni ◽  
Francesco D’Alessandro ◽  
Alessandro Conte
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Noise Abatement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Bodies

AbstractNADIA, acronym of Noise Abatement Demonstrative and Innovative Actions and information to the public, was a European Project funded as part of the announcement Life+ 2009 between October 2010 and June 2014. Five Italian partners were involved in the project: two provinces, (Genova, the coordinating beneficiary, and Savona), two municipalities (Vicenza and Prato), and a technical coordinator (CIRIAF/University of Perugia). All the public bodies were obliged to perform the actions required by the Environmental Noise Directive, i.e., noise mappings of major roads for the provinces and of the agglomerations for the municipalities and the consequent noise action plans. The four public bodies, with the support of the research centre, decided to go beyond the mandatory requirements of END in order to achieve the following main objectives: (i) to improve the methodologies for the realization of noisemappings and action plans, with a particular focus on road traffic noise; (ii) to increase the awareness of citizens and of potential stakeholders by focused communication and dissemination activities; (iii) to assess the technical and economic feasibility of best practices in tackling road traffic noise. The paper reports a summary of the activities performed by the partners during the project.

scholarly journals Value for Money in Road Traffic Noise Abatement

2012 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 1366-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingunn Milford ◽  
Sigve J. Aasebo ◽  
Kjell Strommer
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Value For Money ◽  
Noise Abatement

scholarly journals People exposed to traffic noise in european agglomerations from noise maps. A critical review

Noise Mapping ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Arana ◽  
Ricardo San Martin ◽  
Juan C. Salinas
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Noise Source ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Action Plans ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Input Variables ◽  
The Impact

AbstractTwo of the main objectives of the European Directive on environmental noise are, firstly, to unify acoustic indices for assessing environmental noise and, secondly, to standardize assessment methodologies. The ultimate goal is to objectively and comparably manage the impact and evolution of environmental noise caused both by urban agglomerations and by traffic infrastructures (roads, rails and airports). The use of common indices and methodologies (together with five-year plan assessment required by the authorities in charge) should show how noise pollution levels are evolving plus the effectiveness of corrective measures implemented in the action plans. In this paper, available results fromnumerous European agglomerations (with particular emphasis on Spanish agglomerations) are compared and analysed. The impact and its evolution are based on the percentage of people exposed to noise. More specifically, it demonstrates the impact caused by road traffic, which proves to be the main noise source in all agglomerations. In many cases, the results are extremely remarkable. In some case, the results are illogical. For such cases, it can be concluded that either assessment methodologies have been signifi- cantly amended or the input variables to the calculation programs have been remarkably changed. The uncertainty associated with the results is such that, in our opinion, no conclusions can be drawn concerning the effectiveness of remedial measures designed within the action plans after the Directive’s first implementation Phase.

scholarly journals Environmental noise, its types and effects on health

2021 ◽  
pp. 41-48
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Railway Traffic ◽  
The Impact

Noise can be defined as an undesirable sound that pollutes the environment. If noise is continuous and exceeds certain levels, negative effects on health can be observed. In recent years, the impact of environmental noise (road traffic noise, railway traffic noise, air traffic noise and industrial noise) on human health has come under increasingly intense scrutiny. Noise can cause a number of negative effects on health that directly or indirectly affect humans. The occurrence of some certain and harmful health effects drives the onset of others and may contribute to the development of various diseases. Health is not only a state of physical well-being, but also mental well-being. Mental health primarily depends on the quality of life, which can be affected by various environmental factors, such as noise. An important aspect of fighting noise is the most effective protection of the population by avoiding sources of noise and reducing it. This can be achieved by introducing new technical solutions and new technologies, including devices that generate less noise. Another important measure is educating the society and influencing the change of individual and collective behavior, which may contribute to reducing the harmful factor, which is noise in human life, and minimize the resulting negative effects on health.

scholarly journals The Influence of Pavement Degradation on Population Exposure to Road Traffic Noise

Coatings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabete Freitas ◽  
Lígia Silva ◽  
Cedric Vuye
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Road Noise ◽  
Pavement Maintenance ◽  
Road Pavement ◽  
Single Vehicle ◽  
The Impact

Road pavement develops distresses over time, which increase tyre/road noise. This work focuses on the impact of these distresses on environmental noise. To calculate the environmental noise, a method to transform Close ProXimity (CPX) measurement results into the required input for traffic noise models was defined and used. The tyre/road noise levels were determined by the CPX method for three types of pavement, with three types of distress, at three different speed levels. The study was carried out in the city center of Guimarães, a medium-sized Portuguese city. Using the NMPB model, 18 noise maps were produced for the passing of one single vehicle, taking into account two levels of distress (50% and 100%) for the pavement. The presence of distresses increased the noise, calculated at control points, by up to 7.1 dBA, and the percentage of the population exposed to levels over 45 dB was more than 11%. It was shown that pavement maintenance at early stages of distress development is, particularly for low-speed roads, very important to reduce environmental noise and population exposure. A comprehensive selection of the type of surface and speed control policies can mitigate the impact of a lack of maintenance.

scholarly journals Sleep Disturbance and Noise Annoyance and Environmental Noise Exposure in Residents of Two Major Slovakian Cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Argalasova ◽  
T. Kimakova ◽  
E. Panulinova ◽  
A. Filova ◽  
A. Pultznerova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Annoyance ◽  
Exposure Category ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lower Noise

Abstract The significant growth in traffic density in Slovakia, combined with the country’s economic change, has resulted in new environmental noise issues, particularly in road traffic noise. The objective of this study was to assess and evaluate the impact of environmental noise on the psychosocial well-being of young healthy individuals in the two main Slovak cities of Bratislava and Kosice. To assess noise annoyance, interference with activities, and sleep disturbance, the ICBEN (The International Commission on the Biological Effects of Noise) anonymous validated “Noise annoyance questionnaire” was applied; noise levels were objectified by direct measurements using a sound level analyzer with a frequency analysis module. Young individuals between the ages of 20 and 30 were interviewed in Bratislava (533 respondents, 155 males) and Kosice (355 respondents, 111 males). The majority of the respondents in both cities were exposed to medium levels of road traffic noise LAeq ≥ 60 dB. In Bratislava, 27.82 % of respondents resided in the higher noise exposure category LAeq ≥ 70 dB, while in Kosice, 39.9 % resided in the lower noise exposure category LAeq < 50 dB. Road traffic noise annoys respondents in the higher noise exposure category in Bratislava 63.51 %, and even in the lower noise exposure category in Kosice, it interferes with reading and mental work, sleep and falling asleep 46.51 %. The study has identified traffic noise as an environmental issue in large cities, emphasizing the need for vulnerable individuals to be protected, particularly at night.

scholarly journals Evidence for Environmental Noise Effects on Health for the United Kingdom Policy Context: A Systematic Review of the Effects of Environmental Noise on Mental Health, Wellbeing, Quality of Life, Cancer, Dementia, Birth, Reproductive Outcomes, and Cognition

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Clark ◽  
Clare Crumpler ◽  
Hilary Notley
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Effects ◽  
Quality Evidence

This systematic review commissioned by the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), considers how the evidence base for noise effects on health has changed following the recent reviews undertaken for the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines. This systematic review assesses the quality of the evidence for environmental noise effects on mental health, wellbeing, and quality of life; birth and reproductive outcomes; and cognition for papers published since the WHO reviews (mid-2015 to March 2019), as well as for cancer and dementia (January 2014 to March 2019). Using the GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) most evidence was rated as low quality as opposed to very low quality in the previous reviews. There is now low-quality evidence for a harmful effect of road traffic noise on medication use and interview measures of depression and anxiety and low quality evidence for a harmful effect of road traffic noise, aircraft noise, and railway noise on some cancer outcomes. Many other conclusions from the WHO evidence reviews remain unchanged. The conclusions remain limited by the low number of studies for many outcomes. The quantification of health effects for other noise sources including wind turbine, neighbour, industrial, and combined noise remains a research priority.

scholarly journals Modeling the Influence of Roundabout Deflection on Its Efficiency as a Noise Abatement Measure

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5407
Author(s):  
Saša Ahac ◽  
Maja Ahac ◽  
Josipa Domitrović ◽  
Vesna Dragčević
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Model ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Design Phase ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Noise Abatement ◽  
Early Design ◽  
The Road ◽  
Abatement Measure

Challenges that emerge in roundabout design are mostly related to space constrictions and provision of appropriate deflection around the central island. This can result in speed profiles on roundabouts that might reduce their potential as a noise abatement measure. Because of this, the impact of a roundabout on noise levels and its applicability as a traffic calming device and a noise abatement measure should be investigated in the early design stage, by modeling noise levels. In this paper, the following hypothesis is tested: vehicle movement trajectories, defined during the fastest path performance check in roundabout early design phase, can be used as the road traffic noise sources when modeling noise at roundabouts using static noise model. This procedure (1) simplifies the preparation of the noise model, (2) results in a model that is closer to the real-world in terms of traffic flow conditions, (3) allows the noise calculations in the early stages of roundabout design, and (4) includes the influence of roundabout deflection on calculated noise levels. The abovementioned simplifications of the road traffic noise modeling process should encourage the optimization of roundabout geometry in terms of its noise reduction capabilities in the preliminary design phase of these intersections.

scholarly journals Road Traffic Noise on the Santa Marta City Tourist Route

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 7196
Author(s):  
Dámaris A. Jiménez-Uribe ◽  
Darwin Daniels ◽  
Zoë L. Fleming ◽  
Andrés M. Vélez-Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Flow ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Sampling Point ◽  
Heavy Vehicles ◽  
Noise Levels

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of vehicular traffic on the environmental noise levels of the Santa Marta City tourist route on the Colombian coast. An analysis of vehicle types and frequencies at various times of the day over nearly a year helped to track the main sources of environmental noise pollution. Five sampling points were selected, which were distributed over 12 km, with three classified as peripheral urban and two as suburban. The average traffic flow was 966 vehicles/h and was mainly composed of automobiles, with higher values in the peripheral urban area. The noise level was 103.3 dBA, with background and peak levels of 87.2 and 107.3 dBA, respectively. The noise level was higher during the day; however, there were no differences between weekdays and weekends. The results from the analysis of variance showed that the number of vehicles and the noise levels varied greatly according to the time of day and sampling point location. The peak and mean noise levels were correlated with the number of automobiles, buses and heavy vehicles. The mean noise levels were similar at all sample points despite the traffic flow varying, and the background noise was only correlated for automobiles (which varied much more than the heavy vehicles between day and night).

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