Nordhavn tunnel
A heavier traffic can sound quieter
Protect residential area from traffic noise pollution
Copenhagens Northern freeport Nordhavn, was challenged for many years by an old infrastructure. The infrastructure did not match the increasing number of vehicles, hereunder many trucks, that passed by every day on business in the city centre and the container harbour area.
The harbour area faced 2 challenges:
• Removing the traffic from the minor roads at the residential area Østerbro
• Building a new major road including a tunnel with more intense traffic with higher speed, while keeping the noise at an acceptable level
In the development of the project, it was calculated that an absorbing noise fence with a height of almost 2 m installed at the edges of the earthworks along the new tunnel road would be a feasible solution.
One of the project’s objectives was to find a maintenance free noise absorbing fence with a long lifetime that was capable of carrying growing green plants at the tunnel’s entrance towards the harbour. Noistop Steel was the chosen product, as it lives up to this criterion.
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On December 18th, 2017, the Nordhavn tunnel finally opened for public traffic. The tunnel improves the traffic flow towards Nordhavn and back by directing vehicles underground and thereby away from the existing living area of Østerbro.
The Noistop Steel fence improves the noise pollution at the tunnel’s entrance with a sound absorption of up to 8 dB and a sound insulation of up to 22 dB which is perceived as a significant reduction of the noise pressure level.
These capabilities meet the municipality’s need to improve the noise environment in the surrounding area.
Nordhavn, the new waterfront city district in Copenhagen, will be transformed from an active industrial port into a modern residential and business quarter within the coming years.
