Acoustic barrier for school

Acoustic Barrier

Traffic noise is a real problem that affects students in many educational centers, especially when these schools are located near major mobility infrastructures.
An example is the CEIP Errekabarri HLHI, located in Vitoria‑Gasteiz, which borders a high‑density railway line.

Students and teaching staff at this center were exposed to high sound levels produced by rolling noise and mechanical noise from both passenger and freight trains.

Since the Department of Education of the Basque Government had already planned a renovation of the school playgrounds for that summer, the project became an opportunity to improve the center’s acoustic conditions. Even without performing a full acoustic study, SGS, the company responsible for the acoustic measurements, designed a solution to shield the train tracks and reduce the measured sound pressure levels in the schoolyard.

As a result of the preliminary study, the installation of an acoustic barrier 180 meters long and 2.25 meters high was proposed. The acoustic barrier was built using Acustimódul-80A acoustic panels, installed horizontally between pillars made of HEB‑type profiles, fixed to a concrete beam using anchor plates.

Since the noise source is located outside the school, the perforation of the panels was oriented toward that side to prevent unwanted reflections in the opposite direction.

Acoustic protection in educational environments is essential to ensure proper development of children and young people, given that noise exposure significantly affects learning processes.

Implementing measures to reduce acoustic pollution reflects the growing social concern about the effects of noise on health and well‑being. With this project, we have tried to contribute our small part.

We invite you to visit the installation through the virtual tour we have prepared for you.