Ground-borne noise & vibration mitigation and the effect on rail roughness and airborne noise

Abstract

The issue of ground-borne noise in residences close to the railway (especially around sub-surface tunnels) has increased as a result of urbanisation and an increase in properties built close to the railway. Moorgate Tunnels in the UK has been the source of a number of ground-borne noise complaints and, as a result of this, an in-depth study into the effect of resilient baseplates (on both noise & vibration and track damage) was undertaken. Rail roughness, track decay rate, airborne noise, ground-borne noise, and track accelerations were all measured between 2018 and 2021 through a 200 m trial section of the ‘down’ line of the tunnel (recognised to be the main source of the noise complaints). Data have been recorded from 6 months prior to installation of resilient baseplates up to 18 months after installation. The results show a significant improvement in ground-borne noise, with limited impact on track damage and airborne noise when compared to the pre-existing trackform. The improvement demonstrates that the use of resilient baseplates in appropriate locations can provide good levels of attenuation without detrimental impact on wheel-rail excitation. Care should still be given, however, to correct site selection, and baseplates should not be seen as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to the prevention of ground-borne noise.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for David Thompson: orcid.org/0000-0002-7964-5906

Catalogue record

Export record