Title: Comparing the impact of a road tunnel vs. a road viaduct by means of an integrated exposure assessment

Authors: Clemens Mensink, Guido Cosemans, Inge Liekens, Rudi Torfs, Jean Vankerkom

Addresses: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium. ' Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium

Abstract: Using the MOBILEE methodology, we performed a detailed air quality assessment for three scenarios for the ring road around Antwerp, a major city in Belgium, using PM10 and NOx emission inventories for 2003 (reference) and 2015 (projected future situation), followed by an assessment of the exposure of the population living in the vicinity of the planned constructions. PM10 turned out to be the dominant parameter in exposure assessment. Compared with the impact of the viaduct, a tunnel with an exhaust at a height of 5 or 30 m shows respectively a 40% increase or a 5% decrease in total exposure.

Keywords: road tunnels; road viaducts; air quality; population exposure; PM10; MOBILEE; IFDM; immission frequency distribution models; modelling; air pollution; Antwerp; Belgium; traffic emissions; exposure assessment; public health.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2011.038408

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2011 Vol.44 No.1/2/3/4, pp.106 - 114

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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