Crossrail Project on the Right Track

Royston, United Kingdom, June 05, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Noise from the construction work on London's Crossrail project has become less of a concern for residents, as the building contractor is using Noise Sentinel to manage the noise impact.

Project C501 Moorgate Shaft, which is part of the Crossrail infrastructure project, is one of the most constrained construction sites on the scheme. The site is surrounded on all sides by commercial, residential, educational and London Underground premises.

Operating conditions established with the City of London are complex, in order to both limit noise impact and provide periods of respite to the different stakeholders throughout the working day. Permitted noise levels vary up to 12 times throughout the day.

The main project contractor, BAM Nuttall Kier Joint Venture (BNK JV), needed to be sure that the priorities and expectations of stakeholders were met while enabling the project team to make progress with construction and fulfil obligations to the Local Authority and project owners, Crossrail. With advice from consultants Anderson Acoustics, BNK JV chose Brüel & Kjær’s Noise Sentinel to help manage noise impact.

Chosen for its ability to perform real-time measurement and alerting, Noise Sentinel delivers the immediacy necessary to help manage site activity. Noise Sentinel will also enable the contractors to keep costs down, as the system offers a fixed monthly subscription fee over the life of the project.

Noise Sentinel is a web-based noise management service which continuously assesses noise levels and alerts designated people, enabling them to take immediate action should levels exceed defined limits. The system comprises three real-time noise monitors stationed at key locations around the site, that are constantly recording data. A further fourth terminal is located at the centre of the site to help determine if noise exceedances are the result of construction activity.

Construction shift teams are equipped with a duty phone that receives warnings or alerts from Noise Sentinel via email and SMS so that they can react quickly and proactively to potential noise breaches, rather than reacting afterwards.

The system is cloud-based, allowing any member of the team access to web pages that detail real-time noise levels. Here, amber warnings indicate a potential breach, and red warnings indicate an actual breach. Historical noise data can also be viewed.

The Crossrail services are expected to start operation in 2018 and be fully operational in 2019.

About Brüel & Kjær
Brüel & Kjær is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of sound and vibration measurement systems.

Brüel & Kjær helps its customers measure and manage the quality of sound and vibration in their products and in the environment. Focus areas are aerospace, space, defence, automotive, ground transportation, airport environment, urban environment, telecom and audio.

Brüel & Kjær has an unparalleled portfolio of sound and vibration equipment and is a long-established designer and manufacturer of innovative instrumentation including sound level meters, microphones, accelerometers, conditioning amplifiers, calibrators, noise and vibration analyzers, and PULSE software. In addition, Bruel & Kjaer designs and manufactures the LDS range of vibration test systems, as well as complete airport and environmental monitoring systems: WebTrak, ANOMS, NoiseOffice and Noise Sentinel.

Brüel & Kjær also runs a variety of training courses, from basic introductions to noise and its effects to more specialised classes teaching customers how to get the most out of their equipment. Free, online training courses - conducted by our expert engineers - run throughout the year too.

Brüel & Kjær is a subsidiary of UK-based Spectris plc, which has annual sales of £1.1bn and employs around 7,500 people worldwide across its four business segments.