Faculty of Civil Engineering together with DPP and Fire Rescue Service of DPP tested noise barrier destruction possibilities connected with rescue of incapacitated person - News service

Publication date:

2019/05/27

The city noise barrier is an innovative noise reduction measure. It has a height of only 30 centimeters above the top of the rail, making it the lowest noise mitigation measure of its kind in Europe, while providing noise reduction from passing trams ranging from 3 to 5 decibels. It was developed by experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Railway Structures, in cooperation with MONTSTAV CZ. The barrier is made of recycled materials - rubber granulate - and has been designed to be quickly removed. It is installed in Prague on two tram tracks. The aim of the practice, which took place on the tram line in Prague 4 - Braník between the Pobřežní cesta and Přístaviště stations on Friday, 24 May, was to try to rescue a person wedged between a noise barrier and a tram car. Lastly, firefighters also tried various techniques for the destruction of the orifice in a real environment. Only the standard equipment of the DPP Fire Rescue Brigade were used during the event. The training intervention took place during tramway lockout in the Dvorce - Sídliště Modřany track section, which was held due to regular maintenance and repair of the tram line from the evening of 24 May to the end of daytime operation on Sunday 26 May 2019.

The city noise barrier has been tested on the track in Braník for over three years, the test section was established in 2016. Experts from the Department of Railway Structures of the Faculty monitored the test section for a long time. There were repeated noise measurements on the tram track to determine the acoustic efficiency. The measurement confirmed the attenuation of noise due to the installation of the barrier by 3 to 5 dB and other assumptions concerning the durability of the used innovative material were confirmed. After successfully verifying the aperture properties, CTU scientists decided to use it for further experimentation. Instead of 'simple' dismantling, the DPP Fire Brigade was offered possibility of its destruction as part of an exercise with the motive of rescuing a wounded person.

The importance of quick access to accidents’ site is also confirmed by the DPP fire brigade who are often dispatched to accidents on tram tracks. During their own practice, the firefighters were able to cope with the barrier in matter of minutes. Byusing a crowbar, they simply loosened and subsequently disassembled a portion of the wall, giving enough space to rescue the wedged dummy. In the second phase of the event, the firefighters also tried to cut the aperture with a chain saw, which also proved to be an effective way of overcoming it.

The ability to quickly and easily disassemble the barrier, thus allowing emergency services or firefighters to access the incapacitated person, was one of the priorities in addressing the entire concept in addition to good acoustic performance. The special bonded rubber recyclate from which the curtain is made allows for rapid destruction with, for example, chain saws or cutters. As the barrier in Braník already proved itself during testing, in 2018 the second generation of the barrier was installed on another Prague tram track.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering together with MONTSTAV CZ, obtained patent protection for the city noise barrier. The project implementation is one of the partial outputs of the “Concepts of the Faculty of Civil Engineering for Prague 2017” project, which is co-financed by the European Union from the Operational Program Prague - Pole of Growth.

More info in www.fsv.cvut.cz or www.mphc.cz.