This Sunday the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers will go head to head in Super Bowl XLVII. The much-anticipated game, which serves as the annual championship for the National Football League (NFL), draws tens of thousands of spectators and millions upon millions of television viewers every year. With the assistance of voluntary consensus standards, this year's game is sure to score a touchdown with fans worldwide.
Though many fans will brave heavy traffic and congested parking lots to attend the Super Bowl in person, New Orleans' famed streetcar system provides another way for attendees to get to the game. The city's Loyola-Union Passenger Terminal (UPT) streetcar line, which opened just days before the Super Bowl, stops within blocks of the Superdome, as do the St. Charles and Canal streetcars, giving out-of-town fans an easy way to get from their hotels to the stadium and back again. ISO 14837-1:2005, Mechanical vibration - Ground-borne noise and vibration arising from rail systems - Part 1: General guidance, outlines factors to be considered regarding noise and vibration caused by rail systems and suggests methods of predicting the effects of such operation on sensitive equipment and human occupants of nearby buildings. The standard allows noise issues to be taken into account during the design and construction of new rail lines like the Loyola-UPT streetcar. ISO 14837-1:2005 was developed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC 108, Mechanical vibration, shock and condition monitoring. As the U.S. member body to ISO, ANSI holds leadership of this committee and has delegated secretariat responsibilities to the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), an ANSI member and accredited standards developer. The U.S. also holds the chairmanship of this committee, with Dr. Bruce Douglas of Resonance Technologies serving as chair. ASA is also ANSI-accredited U.S. TAG administrator to ISO TC 108.No matter whether you're watching the Super Bowl from a seat on the Superdome's top row, or in the comfort of your living room, standards help make it possible to enjoy the game you've spent the whole year waiting for.