Page 63 - January 2006

The Library
Dick Stern
Applied Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University PO Box 30, State College, PA 16804
Acoustics Today welcomes items for “The Library.” Submissions of about 500 words that may be edited in MS Word or plain text files should be e-mailed to AcousticsToday@aip.org. Graphics must be at least 300 dpi, preferably in TIF format. Text and graphics must be sent in separate files.
Manual Title: High-Speed Ground Transportation Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment
Pages: 235
Availability: Complete document available online at no cost.
URL: www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/253
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released the final version of its “High-Speed Ground Transportation Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Manual.” The pur- pose of the Manual is to provide guidance for analyzing noise and vibration impacts resulting from proposed high-speed ground transportation projects, including high-speed trains using traditional steel-wheel on steel-rail technology and magnetically levitated (maglev) systems.
Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Inc. (HMMH), as pri- mary author of the Manual, conducted a ten-year program of research and analysis of noise and vibration characteristics of high-speed trains throughout the world. The manual reflects the results of the research and provides calculation models and procedures for use by planners, designers, public agency reviewers and the public.
Of the recent release, Mr. Carl E. Hanson, Senior Vice President and co-founder of HMMH, said, “This Guidance Manual and its associated computerized spreadsheet is a valuable tool for use in determining key impacts associated with high-speed ground transportation in the United States.”
FRA’s experience during environmental impact assess- ments of high-speed train projects revealed that noise and vibration are frequently among the potential impacts of most concern to residents in the vicinity of the proposed project. This manual serves a need to provide a standardized set of procedures to be used Nationwide for the evaluation of noise and vibration impacts.
CD ROM Title: Harvard Technical Memoranda CD ROM Availability: $25 from Acoustical Society of America URL: asa.aip.org/tms.pdf
The Harvard University Acoustics Research Laboratory was established in 1946 to support basic research in acoustics. Research results were disseminated formally by means of reports called technical memoranda (TMs). This CD includes the 61 reports issued between 1946 and 1971, when the contract with the Office of Naval Research was completed. About half the TMs are doctoral theses in report form though some incorporate substantial additions. Most of the other half represents output by the postdoctoral fel- lows. The collection is introduced by David T. Blackstock of the University of Texas at Austin and brief bios for all of the TM authors are included.
Having an unusually broad range for a single research group, the topics represented by the TMs fall mainly in the following categories: radiation, propagation, and scattering; bubbles and cavitation; acoustical instruments; electro acoustic transducers; and properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
Editor’s Note—The items printed in “The Library” are reported for informational purposes only and are not necessarily endorsements by the author, the Editor, Acoustics Today, or the Acoustical Society of America.
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