Examination of Witnesses (Questions 10680
- 10699)
10680. Chairman: How noisy would they
be?
10681. Mr Elvin: Mr Paris from Crossrail
tells me it is difficult to predict the noise at the time, I think
one should proceed on basis it will be audible.
10682. Chairman: Are you planning to
call any experts?
10683. Mr Elvin: No. I accept the tunnel
boring machine will be audible for a period of a week or two weeks
but there will be no audibility for the operation of the tunnels.
10684. Chairman: We have had the opportunity
in the past to question an expert on how to mitigate sound effects.
Can we not have a brief period where we can do the same?
10685. Mr Elvin: Unfortunately Mr Thornley-Taylor
is in Edinburgh today.
10686. Mr Binley: Tell him to shout!
10687. Mr Elvin: Mr Paris who deals with
some of these matters within Crossrail, however he is not an acoustics
expert as Mr Thornely-Taylor is, would be able to give the Committee
some information, would that be helpful?
10688. Chairman: Yes.
10689. Mr Elvin: I am quite happy for
him to answer questions if that helps.
Mr Robert Paris, sworn
Examined by Mr Elvin
10690. Mr Elvin: Mr Paris, can you give
your name and explain what your position is?
(Mr Paris) My name is Robert Paris and I am
the Environment Manager for Crossrail.
10691. Can you explain the position to the Committee
with regard to the passage of the tunnel boring machine along
the tunnels in the vicinity of Christ Church please, the duration
of that passage?
(Mr Paris) Certainly, the tunnel boring machine
will be audible as it travels by, that will be a transient effect
probably for a week or two weeks at most.
10692. Is it possible to mitigate against the
noise from the tunnel boring machine itself?
(Mr Paris) Unfortunately with the tunnel boring
machine, no. You can design the railway to mitigate noise impact
but you can imagine that tunnel boring machine simply has to cut
through the ground.
10693. Chairman: We have in the past
had experts here who talked about floating slabs and all kinds
of mitigation, would these be employed in respect of this area
once the tunnel has been bored?
(Mr Paris) The predictions as they are at the
moment indicated that we would not need something like a floating
slab or an enhanced trap for this location but if during the detailed
design it was identified that we could not meet the criteria we
have set out in our policy then those measures would be implemented.
10694. Mr Binley: I recognise your difficulties
with regard to programming and where it should be at any given
time. I understand that however the time at which the music festivals
are on at Spitalfields are relatively limited and there are some
big holes in the year. Does that not allow you to have some sort
of planning?
(Mr Paris) I am not really able to speak on
that at the moment.
10695. I can see Mr Berryman grimacing, I know
it is a problem but I think we have to deal with problems.
(Mr Paris) In terms of predicting the engineering
of the tunnel boring machine, that is not something I feel I can
advance the Committee on.
10696. Ms Serota: I really do not mind
when the tunnel boring machine happens if we can guarantee that
the insulation will we considerably above 25 decibels. We have
moved out of Christ Church before and I can see how complex the
logistics are of programming the tunnel because you cannot suddenly
go and do another bit but at this stage as the design is not complete,
I have not had the answer from Crossrail that I asked by email
a few days ago, if the design is not confirmed, I would hoped
that it could be changed at this stage to increase it very significantly.
10697. Mr Elvin: As I have already said
we can start at least two years in advance by giving a general
indication of which portion of the year it is likely to be and
progressively refine that. It means that we will be able to say
to the festival two years in advance at least, "it is likely
to be in this period of three months" and we will be able
to progressively refine that over the time after that two years.
It will not be a question of telling the festival two days before
hand or anything like that, there will be a progressive approach
as the work begins to warn the festival, firstly by giving that
wide indication of a three month slot and then narrowing that
down as time goes on.
10698. Mr Binley: We have got to appreciate
that the festival planning and the spending for the advertising
and promotion of the festival takes place sizeably in advance
of the whole festival and I think we have got to be a little more
certain in a way than you are saying. I understand your difficulty
but are you currently thinking we have got to do all we can to
protect this festival.
10699. Mr Elvin: As I said I can give
the Committee assurance, we will take such steps as we can to
notify as far in advance as possible. We are not talking about
days, we are talking about a significant period of time to help
with the festival planning. I am quite happy to call Mr Berryman
in a moment to explain to you the difficulties, for example, of
stopping the machine or slowing it down, it has major ramifications
for the programme and it also creates difficulties in terms of
settlement. The project is well aware of the significance of Christ
Church as I have acknowledged already and clearly we will do what
we can to work closely with the festival to make sure that as
much warning as possible is given and we can do what we can to
accommodate their needs. I cannot be more precise than that because
of the logistics of such a project.
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