Old Rhine ships have to be quiet too
Regular paper
DPA Cauberg-Huygen
Monday 1 june, 2015, 17:00 - 17:20
0.8 Rome (118)
Abstract:
All ships travelling on the river Rhine have to comply to the regulations of
the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine. These regulations
include several demands regarding noise levels inside the ship. Currently,
Rhine ships built before 1976 are exempt until 2020 when these ships have to
comply as well.
In 2013-2014 a first study including 4 ships showed that noise levels in these
ships are too high. The noise criteria in the bedroom (60 dB(A)) and living
room (70 dB(A)) are not met. Over 2500 ships that were built before 1976, are
still active. Several trade organisations have warned the Dutch Ministry of
Infrastructure and the Environment that the branch will need to invest a lot
of money to make their ships more quiet and that this money is not available.
The Dutch Ministry has commissioned the Dutch companies DPA Cauberg-Huygen,
Level Acoustics & Vibration and Rubber Design to study the noise more
specifically. This new study is not only intended to check the results of the
first study but has also the goal to search for affordable noise reducing
measures and to see if it is possible in certain situations to deal with the
noise regulations in a more flexible way.
For this study noise and vibration measurements have been carried out in six
different types of ships. The vibration measurements were used to find the
relevant sound sources and noise paths in the ships. Furthermore a protocol
was written for inspectors to easily measure relevant data. Finally a strategy
was developed for the ship owners to use, so that they know how much noise
reduction they need, what type of measures they can take and how much money is
involved.