Posts Tagged ‘Austria’

Acoustic barriers

Friday, January 10th, 2014

On a recent trip to Europe, I traveled to some interesting places, mostly by train, but sometimes by plane or bus. Sometimes there were great views out the window. At other times, there were acoustic barriers. On another trip to Hong Kong, I traveled by metro, by bus, and by car – and in all cases, there were acoustic barriers.

austria-acoustic-barrier-700small
Yes, I know, this one is solid concrete, and looks like a prison camp with the barbed wire. Unfortunate image for Austria.

Acoustic barriers are an accepted fact of life in many countries, installed as an attempt to mitigate loud noise conditions especially where transport and human life come into close contact. Acoustic barriers work – and presumably work very well, otherwise they wouldn’t be installed! Anywhere that a new roading or rail project cuts through a residential area, then acoustic barriers are provided almost as a matter of course, to help contain the noise at source. Noise, once out in the open, can travel long distances. In some cases the barrier is needed only at the side of the train line – in other cases it is more appropriate to have a full containment of the traffic corridor.

Because I’m an exciting type of guy, I took lots of photos of these barriers, and here are a selection of them, just for you!
(more…)