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Environmental Impacts

Environmental Impacts. Socio-Economic Environment Land Use Transportation System Design & Construction of Facilities Operations & Maintenance Activities Environmental Impacts. Environmental Impacts (Continued).

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Environmental Impacts

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  1. Environmental Impacts Socio-Economic Environment Land Use Transportation System Design & Construction of Facilities Operations & Maintenance Activities Environmental Impacts

  2. Environmental Impacts (Continued) • Short & long term land use and socio-economic changes (mixed benefits & mixed reactions from citizens) • Energy, air pollution, green house gas (GHG)emissions • Noise • Water pollution & runoff changes • Vibrations • Visual effects • Thermal effects (release of heat) • Other ecological impacts

  3. Environmental Impacts: Broader than Physical Environment • Accessibility to economic, social and recreational opportunities. • Impacts on land values

  4. Environmental Impacts (Continued) • Energy: Mostly petroleum; some electricity & alternative fuels - Major consumers: automobile, truck, air • Direct Energy: used for propulsion • Indirect Energy - Energy used for the production & transmission of energy - Vehicle production energy - Vehicle maintenance energy - Infrastructure construction energy - Infrastructure operation & maintenance energy

  5. Environmental Impacts (Continued) Energy-Related Transportation Actions (The broader picture) • Technological innovations (Vehicular & other) • Facility design innovations (for energy efficiency) • Improvements in operations- Improvements in traffic flow (for road traffic) - Avoiding congestion in railway & air networks - optimizing aircraft flight profile for energy efficiency - Etc. • Reduction in total vehicle kms of travel (road transportation)

  6. Air Pollution & GHG Emissions Road Vehicle Operations: Rural/suburban roads Arterial Freeway Corridor Arterial Networks

  7. Vehicle Emissions CO HC NOx CO2 (VOC) Avg. speed Avg. speed Avg. speed Avg. speed Notes: CO2 is directly proportional to fuel consumption. Other GHGs are not shown. PM Particulate matter is not shown. CO Carbon monoxide CO2 Carbon dioxide HC/VOC Hydrocarbons/Volatile organic compounds NOx Oxides of Nitrogen

  8. Noise • Noise is commonly measured as a pressure in decibel -- as a function of the ratio between a particular noise pressure and a standard low pressure , the limit of human audibility (0.0002 dyne/sq. cm) • The intensity of a single sound is usually measured on a relative logarithmic scale that employs a unit called a bel(B) or in terms of its subdivision, the decibel (dB) Noise Measurement I = Intensity of a sound corresponding to L bels I = 10LI0 where I0 is reference intensity – the threshold of human hearing

  9. Noise Measurement (Cont.) I = Intensity of a sound corresponding to L bels I = 10LI0 where I0 is reference intensity – the threshold of human hearing or L = log10() in B (bels) or L=10 log10( ) in dB (decibels) At the threshold of hearing: For I = I0 L = log10(1) = 0 At L ~ 14 B, or L= 140 dB, sound is painful to the ear. I Io I I0

  10. Noise Measurement (Cont.) • dBA Scale • Since human response to sound varies with the frequency • of the sound, several frequency-weighted sound scales • have been developed. • In transportation-related noise measurements, the • A-weighted sound level (dBA) is used since it correlates • well with human response. Sound meters that read dBA • are available.

  11. Noise & Human Activities • 0 dBA Hearing begins • 50 dBA Quiet; a normal conversation; light auto traffic at about 30m • 70 dBA Telephone use difficult; Noisy restaurant; Freeway traffic • 90 dBA Very annoying; Hearing damage (8 hrs); heavy truck (at about 15m) • 120 dBA Maximum vocal effort; Jet aircraft takeoff at 65m Note: In general, mitigation in residential areas is required for > 65 dBA external noise & >50 dBA internal noise level.

  12. Mitigation of Road and Rail Traffic Noise • Source control: development of quieter vehicles/ components, quieter pavements • Path control: noise barriers, elevate highways, depress highways, tunnel • Receiver control: distance (as a buffer) between receiver & highway, noise insulation

  13. Noise Control Noise barrier Elevated highway Depressed highway Sloping side wall Vertical side wall

  14. Aircraft Noise • Day-night average level Ldn (also called DNL) is used. • For a given aircraft type, Ldn is given by: Ldni =NELi + 10 logNe - 49.4 Where Ldni = day-night average noise level in dBA for aircraft type i NELi = single-flyover noise level of aircraft i, dBA, corrected for the duration of the sound Ne = equivalent daily operations, Ne =Nd + 10Nn Nd = total number of operations between 0701 and 2200 h Nn = total number of operations between 2201 and 0700 h

  15. Aircraft Noise (Cont.) Aircraft Noise (Pearson International Airport, Runway 24R Departures) • de Havilland DASH-8 71.1 dBA (average) • Airbus A320 72.2 • Boeing 767 74.7 • Boeing 747-400 79.3 • DC9 80.6 • B727 87.6

  16. Aircraft Noise Mitigation • Reduction of noise at source: quieter aircraft • Restrict operating hours of noisy aircraft • Use of carefully developed departure & landing procedures to minimize impact on residential areas • Restriction on engine testing and other noise-generating operations at the airport during quiet hours at night. • Land use planning: compatibility of land use around airports • Monitor adherence to noise operating restrictions

  17. Aircraft Noise Mitigation LDN contours Runway D C B A Land use Zone A Noise Exposure Minimal B Moderate C Significant D Severe

  18. Software Free software from the Ontario Ministry of Energy & Environment • STAMSON for Road & Rail modes Commercial Software • Available for all transportation modes

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