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Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways.

ABSTRACT: Rail transport is a key stepping stone in the EU's transport policy and is pinpointed for investment and growth over the coming decades. This expanding infrastructure implies increased exposure to environmental stressors, such as noise and ground-borne vibrations. Little is known about the health impacts of exposure to these vibrations. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between annoyance from rail vibrations and the distance of residential dwelling from the railway. It reports the first results of a large epidemiological study, EpiVib, which was designed to investigate the long-term health effects of exposure to rail vibrations. The first part of this study examines a self-reported questionnaire. In total, 6894 individuals aged between 18 and 80 living within 1 km of a railway in west Sweden participated. Results presented here examine the association between distance to the railway and annoyance from vibrations and are stratified by train type. A positive association between closer distance and increased annoyance is seen. After adjustment for important modifiers, results showed that vibrations from freight trains and maintenance operations are reported to be moderately and highly annoying at distances of up to 400 m from the railway and diesel up to 300 m. Vibration from passenger and fast trains are significantly annoying up to 200 m from the track. Vibration from freight trains and maintenance operations were considered highly annoying up to 300 m from the track, diesel up to 400 m. Vibration from passenger and fast trains are not reported to be highly annoying after adjustment. Heavier, slower moving locomotives, in the form of diesel and freight trains, appear to be the source of annoyance at distances further from the railway compared to passenger and fast trains. This has implications in terms of property, transport, and infrastructure planning.

SUBMITTER: Maclachlan L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6163999 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways.

Maclachlan Laura L Ögren Mikael M van Kempen Elise E Hussain-Alkhateeb Laith L Persson Waye Kerstin K

International journal of environmental research and public health 20180831 9

Rail transport is a key stepping stone in the EU's transport policy and is pinpointed for investment and growth over the coming decades. This expanding infrastructure implies increased exposure to environmental stressors, such as noise and ground-borne vibrations. Little is known about the health impacts of exposure to these vibrations. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between annoyance from rail vibrations and the distance of residential dwelling from the railway. It reports ...[more]

PMID: 30200315

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Project description:IntroductionThe Mediterranean basin is home to centuries-old large olive trees; high-vigor cultivars are widespread, with training forms poorly adapted to mechanical harvesting by trunk/branch shakers. The significant quantity of leaves, the considerable tree height, and the presence of multiple dichotomous hanging branches reduce the transmission of vibrations applied by the branch-shaker machines. Thus, re-shaping pruning may improve the performance of this modern mechanical harvesting method by focusing on removing both the hanging branches and those forming dichotomies. The goal of this study was to evaluate the dynamic responses of large-sized olive trees to pruning (or not) through various field tests under different excitation forces. We hypothesized that more rational pruning could significantly increase vibration transmissions.MethodsTo assess the transmission of vibrations, tests were conducted before and after the pruning on representative trees. Tri-axial accelerometers packed in a small titanium housing were used. Trees were assessed before and after the re-shaping pruning. This study reports the first data about the dynamic behavior of centuries-old tree skeletons, in the context of very large-sized olive trees, while taking into account the effects of two different vibrations application modes: a realistic one represented by the system vibration head-tree, originated when the gripper of a shaking machine wrapped and fastened the main branch of the olive trees, and a more speculative one, represented by a single impulse of a short-duration force originated by a hammer.ResultsAfter pruning, spectral density increased 10 fold in the tertiary branches of pruned trees (ranging 1.0-10 m s-2) compared to that of not-pruned ones (ranging 0.1-1.0 m s-2) at frequency >50 Hz under vibration excitation. Moreover, vibrational decay times (120-150 ms) and amplitude (>10-1 m s-2) were higher under single-impulse excitation.DiscussionA more rational pruning applied to ancient large-sized olive trees significantly increased the vibration transmission under both impulse and vibratory excitation forces, without affected their typical "look". Moreover, these insights are helpful in turn in achieving maximum fruit-removal efficiency. These insights could be applied to various horticultural conditions which would improve the economic sustainability of monumental olive trees, a key portion of the Mediterranean landscape and cultural heritage.

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Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways.

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Annoyance in Response to Vibrations from Railways.

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