QUIESST · QUIetening the Environment for a Sustainable Surface Transport

Noise Reducing Devices (barriers, claddings, covers and added devices following EN14388) play an important role in noise reduction: optimizing their global performance is of major concern towards Sustainable Surface Transport. QUIESST will merge, for the very first time and within a true holistic approach, “true” intrinsic products characteristics, whatever their materials and shapes, together with their extrinsic ones, in order to assess their actual global capacities to reduce the amount of people exposed to noise (END target). It will address 5 main topics: NEAR / FAR FIELD RELATIONSHIP: linking the intrinsic characteristics to the corresponding extrinsic far field effect; IN-SITU MEASUREMENT METHODS: developing methods relevant of the actual intended use, allowing long term performances control; COMPARING NRD’s PERFORMANCES with different test methods: building a database comparing both existing and new tests results and providing the relevant relationship; OPTIMIZING NRD’s GLOBAL PERFORMANCE through a HOLISTIC APPROACH: considering acoustic, non acoustic and global impact optimization, multicriteria optimization strategies, and possible global performance indicators; SUSTAINABILITY: defining the relevant generic criteria and developing the first existing NRD’s overall sustainability assessment method. The final verifiable result will be the ACTUAL USE of the “Guidebook to NRD optimisation” as a reference tool for noise mitigation. QUIESST addresses the call as it concerns surface transport noise abatement (road AND rail), considers cost benefit analysis and addresses the END objectives, covers true holistic noise abatement solutions through wave propagation and systems for passive compensation. Its team, made of 14 partners from 9 countries integrates the relevant stakeholders: Infrastructures, Industry, Universities, Research Institutes and SME. It addresses important environmental and economic concerns and will contribute to promote EU NRD’s industry.