Arup Acoustics’ Sound Project Scoops ANC Award

Royston, United Kingdom, July 10, 2014 --(PR.com)-- The HS2 London to Birmingham train connection is a nationally-significant project and has a high level of public awareness. As the UK has very little existing high speed rail and very little railway with noise mitigation, the general community has almost no experience of what the project will sound like.

To overcome public concern about potential noise impact, this project used state-of-the-art 3D auralisation to demonstrate, to approximately 25,000 people, what HS2 will sound like in their community, enabling them to be better informed about the character, level and impact of high speed rail in their area. The demonstration has also been played to MPs and central government officials.

This is the first time state-of-the-art 3D auralisation has been used on such a large infrastructure project to engage with stakeholders, inform design and aid decision-makers. This allows people to decide for themselves what the impact of the proposals might be.

Oliver Bewes from Arup Acoustics said: “We are delighted at the recognition of our acoustics team’s success for the innovative HS2 Soundlab demonstrations at ANC’s Awards and with the prize of a brand new 2250 sound level meter from Brüel & Kjær. It seems fitting as this ‘State of the Art’ meter will now be put to good use in the Arup London Soundlab as part of our rigorous calibration methodology.”

“As we found with the 2013 entries for this category, the quality was extremely high, making it quite a challenge to pick the overall winner,” said Brüel & Kjær Environmental Monitoring Solutions Specialist, Mark Dowie: “But the practical and extremely useful nature of Arup Acoustics’ work on the HS 2 project - which provided a means to demonstrate noise in a way the general public would understand - stood out as an innovative approach and the engagement with those affected was a good example for others to follow on similar projects.”

The ANC Awards, which took place in June at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Birmingham, were presented by science news correspondent Sarah Cruddas, followed by a gala dinner to celebrate the awards.

Now in its second year, the ANC (Association of Noise Consultants) awards promote and recognise excellence among UK acoustic consultants and raise the profile of the acoustics industry.

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.