Environmental Ground-Borne Noise and Vibration from Urban Light Rail Transportation During Construction and Operation

Abstract

Environmental vibration and ground-borne noise from light rail transport (LRT) networks consists a major impact on the urban environment. Since experiments are often difficult to obtain and to interpret especially for environmental vibration, designers and researchers generally resource numerical model to assess vibration levels and understand the complex mechanism of generation and propagation of ground vibration. In this paper, some highlights are provided on vehicle/track/soil modeling for railway-induced ground vibration, including the proper definitions of each of these subsystems. The nature of the wheel/rail interaction is also important, especially in urban area, so a case study demonstrates that local unevenness are important sources of vibrations. On the other hand, specialized prediction models and dose-response relationships for airborne rail noise during operation and construction phases of urban light rail transport networks (both underground and surficial) are needed to be evaluated, in order to quantify the impact of the technical characteristics of the noise source, the operation mode with emphasis to speed, the propagation, the implementation of quiet facades, and the number and distribution of high-level noise events. In the present paper, two distinct case studies are presented in order to emphasize the need and the necessity of using proper tools to predict, access, monitor, and evaluate the environmental impact of LRTs to the urban acoustic environment: (a) the new Brussels Regional Express Network and (b) the new Athens Metro Line 3 extension to Piraeus port in an underground tunnel (length 7.6 km).