NoiseSentinel, the Only Option for London’s Crossrail Project

Press Release:
  Dec 14, 2011 — Crossrail is a large infrastructure project that will create a new rail link across London from west to east. Since significant amounts of the necessary construction work will take place in highly built-up areas, with night works required in some cases, noise compliance is a critical consideration for the building contractors.

The building contractors operating at the Liverpool Street site, BAM Nuttall Kier Joint Venture (BNK JV), turned to acoustic consultants Anderson Acoustics for a real-time noise management solution – in order to fulfill the Crossrail project’s noise pollution obligations, and prevent operations being delayed.

According to Andy Knowles, Director of Acoustic Services at Anderson Acoustics, “Given the scale of this construction and constraints, a key requirement was high reliability of the noise monitoring system. Experiencing failures that could require construction work to be stopped is not an option. The capability to present the data in the right place at the right time was critical.”

The NoiseSentinel system hardware is entirely owned and operated by Brüel & Kjær, allowing the building contractors BNK JV to avoid capital outlay on equipment, and to focus on their core business. This was also a key consideration for the consultancy Anderson Acoustics, who were attracted by the ability to completely outsource the monitoring part of their services, while being supplied with the data needed to provide consultancy services.

“Brüel & Kjær offers a highly professional and complete package that enabled our client to meet their obligations whilst not having to purchase and operate hardware. This means they are able to focus on effective management of noise from their works whilst freeing our resources to provide them with expert support on this complex issue.” said Mr Knowles.

A web-based interface monitors and warns management staff of noise increases, with a trigger alerting them of any small noise increase above pre-determined threshold, warning that a noise limit may be close to being breached and mitigating action should be taken. Noise increases significantly above a pre-determined threshold will trigger an alert, as a noise limit may have been breached. A sound recording is automatically made whenever an alert is issued, and this is available to the site operators within seconds, so they can investigate the source of the noise and determine if it was construction noise or not.

At the Liverpool Street enabling works site, there are three noise-sensitive locations nearby where real-time monitoring is required as a condition of the Section 61 planning consent issued by the City of London Corporation. BNK JV also decided to install a fourth noise monitor on the construction site itself, so that events could be related back to this site with greater certainty.

According to Dan Saunders, European Sales Driver for Brüel & Kjær, “We are very pleased that our service is able to assist in the Crossrail construction project, and see it as a logical solution for large projects of this type – completely freeing the project drivers to focus on what they do best.”

Ends


About Brüel & Kjær
Brüel & Kjær is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration solutions for use in a wide range of applications including: environmental noise measurements, building acoustics, vibration measurements and quality control for use in the automotive, aerospace and consumer industries, as well as by local authorities.

We design and manufacturer sound level meters, microphones and accelerometers, conditioning amplifiers, calibrators, noise and vibration analysers and software. To see our full range and for more information, please visit www.bksv.co.uk or contact our sales team: telephone +44 (0) 1763 255 780 or email: ukinfo@bksv.com

Brüel & Kjær also runs a variety of training courses throughout the year, from basic introductions on noise and it’s effects to more specialised classes teaching customers how to get the most out of their equipment. To see our full training course calendar, visit: http://www.bksv.co.uk/Courses/Training%20Courses.aspx.

Free, online training courses - conducted by our expert engineers - run throughout the year too. For registration details and the latest planned web training sessions, visit: http://www.bksv.co.uk/Courses/Webinars.aspx.

Brüel & Kjær has two laboratories in the Royston Facility which are UKAS accredited to the international standard ISO/IEC 17025. Brüel & Kjær can provide traceable or accredited calibration for sound level meters, microphones, calibrators, artificial ears, conditioning amplifiers and accelerometers.

Brüel & Kjær is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc (www.spectris.com) which has annual sales of £902m and employs around 6,000 people worldwide across its four business segments. Brüel & Kjær has 1,050 employees worldwide, and is represented by sales offices in 55 countries.

For additional information please contact:
Heather Wilkins
Marketing Coordinator
Bruel & Kjaer UK Ltd
Telephone: 01763 255 780
Web: www.bksv.co.uk
Email: heather.wilkins@bksv.com
 
   
For more information: http://www.bksv.co.uk
 Additional link: http://www.bksv.com 
   
Tags: Bruel Kjaer, sound, vibration, environment, noise measure, building, acoustic
 
Company Details:
 Contact:Heather Wilkins 
 E-mail:heather -dot- wilkins -at- bksv -dot- com 
   
 Company:Bruel & Kjaer View Company Profile 
 Address:workJarman Way 
 Location:workRoyston, United Kingdom  SG8 5BQ 
 Phone:workpref01223 389800 
 Fax:fax01223 389918 
 Web Site:http://www.bksv.com