Rail Noise & Vibration UpdateRail Noise & Vibration Update

July 10, 2006

OverviewOverview

• FTA Revised Noise and Vibration Guidance• FRA Final High Speed Noise and Vibration

Guidance• CREATE Noise and Vibration assessment

tools for Freight and Passenger Rail

FTA Revised Noise and Vibration FTA Revised Noise and Vibration GuidanceGuidance

• FRA relies on FTA’s guidance for conventional rail and stationary sources

• FTA noise & vibration guidance June, 2006– Incorporated FRA methods for assessing

locomotive horn noise at grade crossings – Available on FTA’s website at:

http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_Noise_and_Vibration_Manual.pdf

FTA Revised Noise and Vibration FTA Revised Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment GuidanceImpact Assessment Guidance

• Inclusion of noise reference levels for several new transit modes;

• Fuller explanation of how to handle multimodal highway/transit projects;

• Expanded discussion of noise and vibration mitigation measures including costs;

• Refined vibration impact criteria expressed in one-third octave bands for Detailed Analysis; and

• More examples on how to use the General Noise Assessment procedures for different types of transit projects.

FRA Final High Speed Noise and FRA Final High Speed Noise and Vibration GuidanceVibration Guidance

• FRA issued final guidance manual in October, 2005

• Available on FRA’s Website at: HOME / Passenger Rail or Freight Rail / Environment / Environmental Impact / Guidance on Assessing Noise and Vibration Impacts

FRA Final High Speed Noise and FRA Final High Speed Noise and Vibration GuidanceVibration Guidance

• Technical approach and methods unchanged• Added source data for Maglev TR08• Expanded Noise Screening Procedure• Changed ‘Impact’ to ‘Moderate Impact’• Added Appendix E – Conventional Rail

Reference Levels

Table 4-1 Screening Distances for Noise Assessments

Screening Distance in Feet for Project Type and Speed Regime*

Steel-Wheeled Maglev Corridor

Type Existing Noise Environment

Reg. II Reg. III Reg. II Reg. III

Urban/Noisy Suburban - unobstructed 300 ft. 700 ft. 50 ft. 400 ft.

Urban/Noisy Suburban - intervening buildings** 200 300 50 250 Railroad

Quiet Suburban/Rural 500 1200 50 700

Urban/Noisy Suburban - unobstructed 250 600 50 400

Urban/Noisy Suburban - intervening buildings** 200 350 50 250 Highway

Quiet Suburban/Rural 400 1100 50 600

Urban/Noisy Suburban - unobstructed 350 700 75 450

Urban/Noisy Suburban - intervening buildings** 250 350 75 300 New

Quiet Suburban/Rural 600 1300 150 800

*Measured from centerline of guideway or rail corridor. Minimum distance is assumed to be 50 ft. **Rows of buildings assumed to be at 200 ft., 400 ft., 600 ft., 800 ft. and 1000 ft. parallel to guideway.

Table 4-2. Assumptions for Screening Distances*

Corridor Type Assumed Operations

Freight Railroad 10 daytime, 2 nighttime 1 locomotive, 40 cars 55 mph

Highway 4-lanes, 1,450 peak hour volume 95% automobiles, 2% medium trucks, 3% heavy trucks 55 mph

New No major rail or road corridors Urban/Noisy suburban Ldn = 60 dB Quiet suburban/Rural Ldn = 50 dB

Project Type Operations Speeds Steel wheel 2 power cars, 10 coaches

45 daytime, 12 nighttime Regime II @ 100 mph Regime III @ 180 mph

Maglev 10 cars, 45 daytime, 12 nighttime

Regime II @ 100 mph Regime III @ 200 mph

Categor Subsource Component

Length Definition

Height above rails (ft)

SELref (dBA)

len ref (ft) S ref (mph)

K

Freight locomotive

Propulsion lenpower 10 97 90 40 10

Freight car Wheel-rail lentrain 1 100 2000 40 20

Passenger locomotive

Propulsion lenpower 10 94 60 40 10

Passenger coach

Wheel-rail lentrain 1 94 500 40 20

Horn Horn N/A 13 114 N/A N/A N/A

Appendix EAppendix E

Noise Source Reference Levels for Noise Source Reference Levels for

Conventional Trains (SEL at 50 feet)Conventional Trains (SEL at 50 feet)

CREATE Noise and VibrationCREATE Noise and Vibration

• CREATE = Chicago Rail Efficiency And Transportation Efficiency Program

• Neither FRA nor FTA had freight rail sources in guidance or spreadsheet tools.

• HMMH Developed a MS Excel spreadsheet model for CEREATE project noise assessment.

CREATE ModelCREATE ModelMoving Noise Sources• Electric and diesel commuter locomotives• Commuter passenger cars• Light-rail transit (LRT) powered cars• Automated-guideway transit (AGT) cars (steel-

wheeled and rubber-tired)• Monorail• Magnetic-levitation (Maglev) trains• Freight locomotives• Freight cars (typical and empty hopper)• Automobiles• Buses (city and commuter)• Commuter buses

CREATE ModelCREATE ModelStationary Noise Sources• Track crossovers (switches,

turnouts, crossing diamonds)• Rail yards or shops• Layover tracks• Bus storage yards• Bus operating facilities• Bus transit centers• Parking garages• Park and ride lots

Track Noise Sources• Percentage of wheel flats for

rail cars• Jointed track• Embedded track

• Aerial structure

Input Noise-Sensitive Receptor DataReceptor/case name

FTA land use category (1,2 or 3)Distance to noise sourcesIntervening building rows

Presence of noise barriers

Input Noise Sources (up to eight)Use source reference list

Input Noise Source ActivityVehicles per hour

Cars / locomotives per trainDuration of trainsVehicle speeds

Input Noise Source DetailsPercentage of wheel flats

Jointed trackEmbedded trackAerial structure

Output Noise LevelHourly-equivalent noise level (Leq)

Day-night noise level (Ldn)

CREATECREATE

ModelModel

StructureStructure

EndEnd

David Valenstein

Environmental Program Manager

(202) 493-6368

david.valenstein@dot.gov