scholarly journals Protection against traffic noise in urban areas in relation to noise control plans

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 075-082
Author(s):  
Janusz Bohatkiewicz

Exposure to traffic noise belongs to the most harmful impacts affecting people who live in towns. Nearly one third of residents of big towns in Poland suffers from permanent exposure to traffic noise, which may have adverse effects on health. The same refers to most European cities. The problems of noise is regulated by identical legislation in the EU and in Poland. Noise control in big towns arises from regulations related to obligatory provision of noise mapping and noise control plans. The plans contain, among other things, site-specific methods of protection against traffic noise. Those sites are defined by means of the “M” index, whose value is the higher the more people live in the area and the more permissible noise levels are exceeded. The noise control plans prepared to-date contain a range of methods and measures aimed at ensuring protection against traffic noise. In many cases those methods are nothing but improvised response and are not effective enough in towns, for example noise barriers. Results of pilot research indicates that comprehensive physical traffic calming measures may prove to be an effective and long lasting noise control solution in the surrounding of streets in urban areas. Physical traffic calming may be more effective than the measures commonly used so far which does not require additional land acquisition.

Author(s):  
K. Kumar ◽  
H. Ledoux ◽  
T. J. F. Commandeur ◽  
J. E. Stoter

Road traffic and industrial noise has become a major source of discomfort and annoyance among the residents in urban areas. More than 44 % of the EU population is regularly exposed to road traffic noise levels over 55 dB, which is currently the maximum accepted value prescribed by the Environmental Noise Directive for road traffic noise. With continuously increasing population and number of motor vehicles and industries, it is very unlikely to hope for noise levels to diminish in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor urban noise, so as to make mitigation plans and to deal with its adverse effects. The 2002/49/EC Environmental Noise Directive aims to determine the exposure of an individual to environmental noise through noise mapping. One of the most important steps in noise mapping is the creation of input data for simulation. At present, it is done semi-automatically (and sometimes even manually) by different companies in different ways and is very time consuming and can lead to errors in the data. In this paper, we present our approach for automatically creating input data for noise simulations. Secondly, we focus on using 3D city models for presenting the results of simulation for the noise arising from road traffic and industrial activities in urban areas. We implemented a few noise modelling standards for industrial and road traffic noise in CityGML by extending the existing Noise ADE with new objects and attributes. This research is a steping stone in the direction of standardising the input and output data for noise studies and for reconstructing the 3D data accordingly.


Noise Mapping ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-83
Author(s):  
Pervez Alam ◽  
Kafeel Ahmad ◽  
S. S. Afsar ◽  
Nasim Akhtar

AbstractNoise pollution has been rising as a critical issue in recent days particularly for the people living in urban areas. This study has been conducted to find out the effects of traffic induced noise on nearby residential building through 3D noise mapping with and without noise Barriers. Monitoring has been carried out at various densely populated preselected locations of Delhi, India. Thereafter, 3D noise mapping has been done using hourly average noise levels for the locations exposed with maximum noise. The developed 3D noise map shows the variation of noise level along X, Y and Z direction for all selected locations before and after installation of noise barriers. Moreover, the result also shows that exact assessment of noise impact is possible through 3D noise mapping, when a multistory building close to the source of noise is taken into consideration. This paper also elaborates the adequate height, distance and NRC value of noise barrier to reduce the effect of road traffic noise on nearby high rise building. Reduction pattern of noise level can easily be visualized and evaluated by using these maps. This type of study could support decision makers during adaptation of suitable remedial measures.


Noise Mapping ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Alves ◽  
Joachim Scheuren ◽  
Beate Altreuther

AbstractNoise pollution is one of the major environmental problems affecting European citizens in urban areas. Although the Environmental Noise Directive is in force since 2002, there is still a gap between defined objectives and outcomes. The EU Seventh Environment Action Programme attempts to achieve the reduction of noise pollution by means of more effective European noise policies. This must be coupled with providing assistance to local administrations on dealing with existing noise problems, for example through Urban Sound Planners. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a systematic review of European projects addressing urban sound planning topics and furthermore an overview of the most relevant research results that can be applied by practitioners. In order to understand the European funding strategy, the most valued research topics (number of projects and funding support) are assessed. A key finding of this review is the disagreement between air traffic noise research funding and its importance on overall noise exposure. Another finding is that the scientific knowledge for urban sound planning exists but it requires adequately dissemination of results, among the policy makers and local authorities, who are usually responsible for policy implementation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 801 ◽  
pp. 77-83
Author(s):  
Ana Vukadinović ◽  
Jasmina Radosavljević ◽  
Milan Protić ◽  
Jelena Malenović-Nikolić

Environmental noise affects a large number of people. It is estimated that 20% of the EU population, or around 80 million people live in conditions of unacceptable noise. Three key possibilities for community noise management are control at the source of noise, control at the path from source to receiver and protection at the place of reception. In all three cases, noise should be reduced to the lowest level achievable in the particular situation. This study deals with the problem of protection against community noise at the receiving site. The paper considers the energy efficient façade construction and how they contribute to the protection of noise in urban areas.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijit Debnath ◽  
Prasoon Kumar Singh ◽  
Sushmita Banerjee

Abstract Road traffic vehicular noise is one of the main sources of environmental pollution in urban areas of India. Also, steadily increasing urbanization, industrialization, infrastructures around city condition causing health risks among the urban populations. In this study we have explored noise descriptors (L10, L90, Ldn, LNI, TNI, NC), contour plotting and finds the suitability of artificial neural networks (ANN) for the prediction of traffic noise all around the Dhanbad township in 15 monitoring stations. In order to develop the prediction model, measuring noise levels of five different hours, speed of vehicles and traffic volume in every monitoring point have been studied and analyzed. Traffic volume, percent of heavy vehicles, Speed, traffic flow, road gradient, pavement, road side carriageway distance factors taken as input parameter, whereas LAeq as output parameter for formation of neural network architecture. As traffic flow is heterogenous which mainly contains 59% 2-wheelers and different vehicle specifications with varying speeds also effects driving and honking behavior which constantly changing noise characteristics. From radial noise diagrams shown that average noise levels of all the stations beyond permissible limit and highest noise levels were found at the speed of 50-55 km/h in both peak and non-peak hours. Noise descriptors clearly indicates high annoyance level in the study area. Artificial neural network with 7-7-5 formation has been developed and found as optimum due to its sum of square and overall relative error 0.858 & .029 in training and 0.458 & 0.862 in testing phase respectively. Comparative analysis between observed and predicted noise level shows very less deviation up to ±0.6 dB(A) and the R2 linear values are more than 0.9 in all five noise hours indicating the accuracy of model. Also, it can be concluded that ANN approach is much superior in prediction of traffic noise level to any other statistical method.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngudi Tjahjono ◽  
Imam Hanafi ◽  
Latipun Latipun ◽  
Suyadi Suyadi

Noise due to motorized vehicles is a major problem in urban areas which can interfere with physiological and psychological health. This study aims to determine the extent of noise levels outside and inside the house around the function of different roads in Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. The study was conducted by measuring the traffic noise level using a sound level meter. Measurements were taken in the afternoon between 16.00-21.00 during the peak of heavy traffic and outside working hours when residents were already at home. Statistical Student’s t-test analysis was used to test differences in the average noise level outside and inside the house on each road function. Variance analysis was used to compare noise levels around primary arterial roads, secondary arteries, primary collectors, secondary collectors, primary local, and secondary local. From the measurement results, it is known that the noise due to motorized vehicles is 84.28 dB on average. This exceeds the threshold based on the Decree of the State Minister for the Environment Number 48 of 1996. There was a significant difference in noise level between outside and inside the house on each road function. There was no significant difference in noise level between the functions of the road segments both outside and inside the house. The results of the study concluded that the traffic noise level at 16:00 to 21:00 hours on all roads that were targeted for research exceeds the national threshold. It is recommended that the level of traffic noise around roads in the city of Malang can be reduced to minimize the negative impact on physiological and psychological health.


Noise Mapping ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Vogiatzis ◽  
Markus Petz

Abstract CITYHUSH project supports city administrations in the implementation of noise action plans according to the EU directive 2002/49/EC. The action “Noise and vibration control at source – Acoustically green vehicles” validates noise score rating models in a case in the Athens area, including Q-Zones (Quiet zones) and embedded parks, identifying perceived benefits on noise. Annoyance for PTW (powered two-wheeler) is masked in general traffic annoyance. However, a PTW pass may become recognizable and clearly distinct within the traffic noise environment formed by the road traffic flow and synthesis. Several strategic noise mapping scenarios with high noise levels from PTWs, as well as low frequency noise annoyance events, were evaluated proving that the noise levels in a Q-Zone and embedded parks may be reduced with an increased park capacity. Measures with a special focus on the reduction of conventionally powered motorbikes and scooters (PTWs) were evaluated. PTW’s emission values were derived, from known values and past measurements, in the form of a correction function as a function of speed to perform simulation analysis for various analogies of conventionally versus electrically driven PTWs. Relevant noise difference maps indicate noise reductions, especially when additional measures are included, such as speed limits.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
PETROVICI ALINA ◽  
TOMOZEI CLAUDIA ◽  
NEDEFF FLORIN ◽  
IRIMIA OANA ◽  
PANAINTE-LEHADUS MIRELA

<p>This paper presents a synthesis of current state of the assessment of road traffic noise in urban areas considering economic, social and legal aspects. Therefore, there were described several prediction methods of the urban traffic noise. These methods are useful in calculating the exposure of the population at noise levels which exceed the permissible limits. Mapping is one of the most common methods used for the assessment of noise. Whether it is industrial, airport, rail or road traffic noise, noise mapping provides accurate data needed later in developing action plans against noise. The road traffic noise assessments are performed periodically, and a representative picture of the noise in the analysed areas is obtained. Then, the action plans can be developed in order to reduce road traffic noise, where it is necessary.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 1015-1025
Author(s):  
José Luis Cueto ◽  
David Bienvenido-Huertas ◽  
Francisco Fernández-Zacarías ◽  
Ricardo Gey ◽  
Ricardo Hernández-Molina

This article presents a methodological approach to try to respond to some of the protection and management needs against the noise of a peri-urban natural park. The methodology presented is based on the generation of "ad hoc" noise maps. To analyze its possibilities and the limits of use, a coastal park surrounded by a densely populated area in the southwest of Spain is used as a case study. In this study, birds in their diverse ecosystems are the main target noise receiver of the study. The source of noise pollution considered is the traffic noise of the highways and the urbanized areas surrounding the park. However, the methodology can be extrapolated to any source of noise and other protection figures. An adequate diagnosis of the environmental noise would help to overcome the supposed incompatibility between the preservation of nature and the tourist exploitation of natural spaces. With this in mind, it has also been proposed as target noise receivers, the ornithologists and visitors who wish to become bird-watchers and bird-listeners. To this end, it has been proposed to produce noise maps with certain methodological guidelines that fit on a case-by-case basis. Several heights are used in this paper, adapting the map to noise receivers. With the same purpose, noise level maps in octave bands were developed. The tonal frequencies of interest are those that the birds use in their songs (according to the species, normally between 2 and 8 kHz). The maps have been contrasted with noise measurements carried out throughout the park. The study shows that in the areas most exposed to the noise of the Rio San Pedro and the university campus, noise levels at 2 kHz can reach 74 dB during the peak traffic hours. In addition, a large percentage of the area of both areas is affected by noise levels that exceed 50 dB (100% and 44% respectively). We are also concerned that a small population of birds has been counted in these areas based on preliminary observations at peak traffic times. The results can help the decision-makers to evaluate how traffic noise invades different ecosystems and where it can mask the sound of birds.


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