Final Report Summary - INQUEST (Information Network for Quiet European Road Surface Technologies)
The INQUEST project aimed at coordinating communication and dissemination of past and present research pertaining to guidance on the use of low-noise technologies for road surfaces to European countries with less access and experience in applying knowledge in that field. One of the main instruments was the dissemination of the contents of the guidance manual developed by SILVIA ('Sustainable road surfaces for traffic noise control', a European-funded project completed in August 2005) by means of a series of workshops in countries that were not involved in SILVIA, with priority given to New Member States.
One of the main outputs of SILVIA was a proposed acoustic classification procedure for road surfacing materials and technologies. A complementary objective of the INQUEST project was to promote European harmonisation of testing methods and equipment for this purpose. To that end, one has to set up a European network of users of the measurement methods involved in the classification procedure in order for them to exchange experience and data and to organize equipment comparison tests. It is noted that these tests were not proposed as part of the project. A specific web page for the project is hosted by FEHRL: http://www.tehrl.org/INOUEST(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie).
The contractors involved in the project were:
- Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC) (Brussels), which coordinated the project;
- Forum on European national Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) was responsible for the organisation of the workshops and of the development and delivery of part of the presentations at the workshops;
- Danish Road Institute (DRI) was responsible for part of the presentations at the workshops and for the launch of the users group.
The dissemination workshops took place in several cities, namely: Ljubljana, Bucharest, Duebendorf, Brno, Lisbon and Athens.
In view of the evaluation, it can be concluded that the workshops were generally well attended and successful. In most visited countries the subject was largely ignored. The degree of satisfaction regarding the contents and the execution provide optimism on the impacts this dissemination will have on the actual implementation of the knowledge provided to the stakeholders in the participating countries.
The conclusion was that there is a need to move forward with a view to eventually issuing a European standard on the noise classification procedures of road surface products. The users group could possibly make use of the CWA - CEN working group agreement procedure to speed up things or just prepare the work with a view to a possible mandate given by the EC to the existing CEN/TC227 on 'Road surface materials', which could be taken in charge by CEN / TC227 / WGS 'Road surface characteristics'.
Eleven countries were involved in the SILVIA project namely Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Great-Britain, Norway, Italy and France. INQUEST added to this list six more countries namely Slovenia, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, Greece and Switzerland. The first expected impact is that the latter countries will be aware as were the SILVIA countries, of the cost-effectiveness of low-noise road surfaces as a traffic noise control measure that can be used in the action plans required by the Environmental Noise Directive.
For this type of action to be effectively implemented, one of the prerequisite is that it would possible to specify a low-noise surface in a contract and that performance of the laid product could be easily and accurately verified. The second expected impact of the project, namely thanks to the users group that has been set up, is to stimulate the harmonisation of the ways low-noise surfaces are classified for contractual purposes throughout Europe so that contractors could better sell their products and technologies across the borders.
One of the main outputs of SILVIA was a proposed acoustic classification procedure for road surfacing materials and technologies. A complementary objective of the INQUEST project was to promote European harmonisation of testing methods and equipment for this purpose. To that end, one has to set up a European network of users of the measurement methods involved in the classification procedure in order for them to exchange experience and data and to organize equipment comparison tests. It is noted that these tests were not proposed as part of the project. A specific web page for the project is hosted by FEHRL: http://www.tehrl.org/INOUEST(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie).
The contractors involved in the project were:
- Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC) (Brussels), which coordinated the project;
- Forum on European national Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL) was responsible for the organisation of the workshops and of the development and delivery of part of the presentations at the workshops;
- Danish Road Institute (DRI) was responsible for part of the presentations at the workshops and for the launch of the users group.
The dissemination workshops took place in several cities, namely: Ljubljana, Bucharest, Duebendorf, Brno, Lisbon and Athens.
In view of the evaluation, it can be concluded that the workshops were generally well attended and successful. In most visited countries the subject was largely ignored. The degree of satisfaction regarding the contents and the execution provide optimism on the impacts this dissemination will have on the actual implementation of the knowledge provided to the stakeholders in the participating countries.
The conclusion was that there is a need to move forward with a view to eventually issuing a European standard on the noise classification procedures of road surface products. The users group could possibly make use of the CWA - CEN working group agreement procedure to speed up things or just prepare the work with a view to a possible mandate given by the EC to the existing CEN/TC227 on 'Road surface materials', which could be taken in charge by CEN / TC227 / WGS 'Road surface characteristics'.
Eleven countries were involved in the SILVIA project namely Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Great-Britain, Norway, Italy and France. INQUEST added to this list six more countries namely Slovenia, Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal, Greece and Switzerland. The first expected impact is that the latter countries will be aware as were the SILVIA countries, of the cost-effectiveness of low-noise road surfaces as a traffic noise control measure that can be used in the action plans required by the Environmental Noise Directive.
For this type of action to be effectively implemented, one of the prerequisite is that it would possible to specify a low-noise surface in a contract and that performance of the laid product could be easily and accurately verified. The second expected impact of the project, namely thanks to the users group that has been set up, is to stimulate the harmonisation of the ways low-noise surfaces are classified for contractual purposes throughout Europe so that contractors could better sell their products and technologies across the borders.
