Browsing by Author "Diez, Itxasne"
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Item Analysis of efficiency and usefulness of top devices in noise barriers(2012) Diez, Itxasne; Fernandez, Pilar; Aspuru, Itziar; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; CALIDAD Y CONFORT AMBIENTALThe aim of the MAITE project "Transport infrastructure noise attenuation: design and system modelling of additional devices" was to design and evaluate the effectiveness of a new top device designed by TECNALIA. On the first step of the project it was carried out a comparison of the acoustic effect of different geometries using 2D Boundary Element method. Afterwards, the most effective design was evaluated according to the European specifications CEN/TS 1793-4. Those results were presented in INTERNOISE 2010. This paper presents results of insertion loss obtained by the "in situ" evaluation, based on the direct approach of ISO 10847:1997. The evaluation was carried out in a main road (BI-631) with the collaboration of the Provincial Government of Bizkaia, who facilitated the installation of a noise reducing device on top of an already installed noise barrier. It was proved that the top device reduces noise levels at some extent. Additionally, the paper analyses the usefulness of installing top devices. Therefore it identifies the situations where their installation could be interesting and it shows some practical examples to underline possible benefits achieved by using them. The intention is to open a discussion about the practical suitability of installing a top device.Item Analysis of Field Data to Describe the Effect of Context (Acoustic and Non-Acoustic Factors) on Urban Soundscapes(2017) Herranz-Pascual, Karmele; García, Igone; Diez, Itxasne; Santander, Alvaro; Aspuru, Itziar; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; CALIDAD Y CONFORT AMBIENTAL; ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICOThe need to improve acoustic environments in our cities has led to increased interest in correcting or minimising noise pollution in urban environments, something that has been associated with the resurgence of the soundscape approach. This line of research highlights the importance of context in the perception of acoustic environments. Despite this, few studies consider together a wide number of variables relating to the context, and analyse the relative importance of each. The purpose of this paper is therefore to identify the acoustic and non-acoustic characteristics of a place (context) that influence an individual’s perception of the sound environment and the relative importance of these factors in soundscape. The aim is to continue advancing in the definition of an acoustic comfort indicator for urban places. The data used here were collected in various soundscape campaigns carried out by Tecnalia in Bilbao (Spain) between 2011 and 2014. These studies involved 534 evaluations of 10 different places. The results indicate that many diverse contextual factors determine soundscape, the most important being the congruence between soundscape and landscape. The limitations of the findings and suggestions for further research are also discussed.Item Noise barriers customized to abate non conventional noise sources(OAL-Osterreichischer Arbeitsring fur Larmbekampfung, 2013) Fernandez, Pilar; Diez, Itxasne; Eguiguren, Jose Luis; Aspuru, Itziar; CALIDAD Y CONFORT AMBIENTAL; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; SGNowadays, conventional noise barriers, built with different materials and designs, form a landscape very common on both sides of roads and railways. The fast growth of cities and the increasing awareness of people about noise, leads to define measures to reduce noise caused by other sources in urban areas. This paper presents two types of barriers, slightly different from those already commons. Their designs are customized to two types of sources: railway lines highly integrated in cities, and temporal events that are noisy, like works, concerts, political acts.... On one hand, it is already known that small barriers could be efficient to reduce railway noise. The challenge in the design of this barrier was not only acoustic, but also to comply with maintenance requirements. The design is still experimental and it is being checked with railway managers to find, if possible, common requirements of safety distances to track to allow works at the line, optimizing its acoustical efficiency. On the other hand, the barrier designed to reduce noise caused by works in the city, is a temporary display, easily movable and adaptable to different sources of noise in a work. It has awarded a patent, being still at experimental stage.Item Protocol to manage construction noise in urban areas: Practical case in Bilbao municipality(2015) García, Igone; Aspuru, Itziar; Diez, Itxasne; Gastiasoro, Alfredo; ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO; CALIDAD Y CONFORT AMBIENTAL; Tecnalia Research & InnovationMeasures to control construction noise should go beyond measuring the impact and reacting to it. Identification of potential problems before they occur is the optimal approach. At the same time, proposed methodologies and protocols should be realistic and practical, since they will be implemented in a very tight framework, both in terms of limitation of budget and time constraints. Therefore, practical testing of them is more than welcome. This paper presents a procedure to define acoustic requirements to urban construction works and a methodology to answer to those requirements when executing the works. Both were defined as result of the collaboration between Tecnalia and a construction company in a real work developed in the city of Bilbao. Therefore, it considers the needs, capabilities and constraints expressed by a public local authority and a private construction company. The procedure includes an integral approach that considers: the prediction of the noise impacts, proposing abatement measures and analyzing their efficiency in real time during the timeline of the construction works. As result of the working process some criteria to adapt the requirements asked to different works are obtained. These criteria are related to: the type of works, classifying them in terms of how noisy they are; and the acoustic conditions of the area, the sensitivity to noise impact and existing environmental noise levels (consulting noise maps, developed by the city). The methodology can be applied when planning and executing construction works in an urban area. The methodology faces two key challenges: being accepted by authorities leading the works, so not interfering too much in the timing and costs of the works, and being applicable by the construction companies as part of their environmental control.