PEOPLE LIVING NEAR TRAIN TRACKS

People living near tracks blast loud trains - and LIRR agrees

BY JESS WISLOSKI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, September 23rd 2007, 4:00 AM

Train whistles are romantic fodder in folk songs and literature, but for those who live near the Long Island Rail Road, bone-jangling horn blasts from passing trains have increasingly become an unromantic nuisance.

Complaints against the country's largest commuter rail are at an all-time high, but LIRR officials say they can't lower the horn volume because of federal regulations.

So they're trying to change the rules themselves.

"Friends, neighbors - everywhere I go, people talk to me about the horns," LIRR President Helena Williams told the Daily News.

"In this day and age when you have noise pollution everywhere, people are sensitive about the length and pitch of our horns. They have some legitimate concerns," she conceded.

Homeowners who bought properties next to railroad tracks said they were prepared for a small nuisance, but a recent increase in horn volume and more frequent use has tipped their sanity scales, they said.

"It's like you're being assaulted," she said. "You acclimate yourself to noise in this city, but this is too much."


Some blame the LIRR's new trains as the culprit for their worsening woes, but the agency noted that the fleet, which was fully replaced early last year, is operating at the federally required minimum loudness.

But that may change soon.

"We're seeking a waiver so we can lower the decibel of the horn," as well as reducing the sequence of blasts, said Williams, who said the LIRR is also testing new technology.

A 2005 Federal Railroad Administration mandate amped up horn use rules at crossings, and raised the minimum volume to between 96 and 110 decibels.

The LIRR wants an exemption, so it can lower it to the previous level of 92 decibels. Every 3 decibels means a doubling of loudness.

"The problem is when you use the horn in a dense area, it reverberates off all the residential buildings and multiplies exponentially," Williams said.

For Jack Mevorac, a Long Island attorney, the news arrived right on time. He founded the Train Noise Abatement Association after the new rules drowned Cedarhurst, with five street-level crossings, in 1,200 blasts a day.

"It's not a quality-of-life issue, it's a health crisis," said Mevorac, who routinely wears earplugs.

After demonstrations by his group, engineers and media outlets logged readings of 109 to 119 decibels in his town.

"We have already crossed the point where everybody agrees they're too loud," he said. "Everyone at least is moving in the right direction."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny

Train Noise Reduction

Summary of Initial Train Noise Study
China Project - Shenzhen 2/28/2000
Sephir Hamilton

Recommendations

1. Install continuous traffic barrier near train tracks.
2. Use heavy wall construction with no openings or seams.
3. Use heavy-paned, non-opening, double-glazed windows (at least 3" air space).
4. Seal all cracks, joints, and discontinuities in the wall (especially window mounts).
5. Minimize the wall (flat wall) and window areas (small windows) on the exposed side.
6. Build a continuous structure adjacent to the tracks to block the rest of the site (taller is better).
7. Situate bedrooms on "quiet-side," living and dining rooms in the middle, and kitchen/bath and common areas on the exposed side.
8. Place no vents or other openings through the exposed wall.

Explanations ...read more here

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Train Noise Reduction

Summary of Initial Train Noise Study
China Project - Shenzhen 2/28/2000
Sephir Hamilton

Recommendations

1. Install continuous traffic barrier near train tracks.
2. Use heavy wall construction with no openings or seams.
3. Use heavy-paned, non-opening, double-glazed windows (at least 3" air space).
4. Seal all cracks, joints, and discontinuities in the wall (especially window mounts).
5. Minimize the wall (flat wall) and window areas (small windows) on the exposed side.
6. Build a continuous structure adjacent to the tracks to block the rest of the site (taller is better).
7. Situate bedrooms on "quiet-side," living and dining rooms in the middle, and kitchen/bath and common areas on the exposed side.
8. Place no vents or other openings through the .....read more here

---

Train noise reduction

Summary of Initial Train Noise Study

China Project - Shenzhen 2/28/2000

Sephir Hamilton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendations
Install continuous traffic barrier near train tracks.
Use heavy wall construction with no openings or seams.
Use heavy-paned, non-opening, double-glazed windows (at least 3" air space).
Seal all cracks, joints, and discontinuities in the wall (especially window mounts).
Minimize the wall (flat wall) and window areas (small windows) on the exposed side.
Build a continuous structure adjacent to the tracks to block the rest of the site (taller is better).
Situate bedrooms on "quiet-side," living and dining rooms in the middle, and kitchen/bath and common areas on the exposed side.
Place no vents or other openings through the....read more here 

Sound or Noise Measurement

We are subjected to lots of sound in our daily life from sound within our home or work place such as music from our radio, a television set, a tape or disk players, sound from our daily conversation, a washing machine and other electrical equipment but there exist a background sound which maybe sound from our air conditioners, ceiling fan, a water boilers and even from all the lighting.

Sound from outside our homes or place of work are possibly insects sound from the garden, sound from birds and bees or even a cat or a dog. Sound from an old news paper collector or an ice cream seller but in many cases now continuous traffic sound are becoming noise which are unwanted sound. If nothing is done to reduce these noise it affects us and may lead to partial deafness.

Acceptance and tolerance of sound or noise are different for different people and the accepted sound or noise measurement are in dB A or "A" weighing sound measurement. The noise measurement are then summarized as follows:

Threshold of pain                           - 140 dB
A Jet aircraft at 300 m                   -   90 dB
Highway traffic noise at 30 m       -   75 dB
A quiet restaurant                           -   50 dB
Residential area during the night   -   40 dB
Threshold of hearing                      -      0 dB

Noise from Roads, Expressways and Highways

The 3 main source of noise from a highway or expressway are:
1) Exhaust system of motorcycles, cars, trucks and buses
2) Engine noise generated from vehicles accelerating or ascending a slope
3) Tyres interacting with pavements

Highway noise are measured in dBA or "A" weighting which emphasize sound from between 1 kHz and 6 KHz

Studies have shown that expressways and highway noise loudness doubles as
1) Volume of vehicles increase by 10 folds
2) Travelling speed of vehicles doubles

For More information on noise barrier walls visit http://www.noisesorb.com/

Noise from nearby loud speakers

Q. There was a noise problem raised by a 3 storey house owner and the gentleman wanted to know if there was a solution to reduce noise to his back rooms. The back of his house was facing a pair of loud speakers at 3.5 m from ground level. The loud speakers were estimated to be between 50 to 60 meters away from his back wall. There was already an existing perimeter wall at the back boundry of his property (height not mentioned). The bedrooms were on the first floor and second floor and each floors were 3.3 meters high.

A. We suggested to the owner that he should ensure there was no openings on the back wall and all windows were not of the louver type. It would be better if the windows were double glass casement type which was confirmed to be the case. He mentioned that it was but it was still not so effective.

He was considering if it would be effective if there was a noise barrier wall at the backyard. It is possible to construct a noise barrier wall but it may be costly and there are some major challenges that we have to overcome. Ideally the wall should be as close to the source of the noise. This was not possible so the other solution would be to build a noise barrier wall at his back yard. The noise barrier wall would have to be higher than the roof which is more than 10 meters high and long enough to shield both left and right side of the house. This noise barrier wall would then shield the house from the noise as the house would now be in the shadow zone. There are several ways to construct this noise barrier wall and besides the noise barrier wall there would be cost allocated to construction of a solid foundation for the noise barrier wall support structures to ensure the noise barrier wall do not tip over under strong wind condition.