Z-bloc Norden AB was founded in 1999 by brothers Bo and Hans Samuelsson on Öland, with the licensing rights for an absorber based on the reuse of used car tires. The absorber was cast into a concrete frame, which was a perfect fit as the brothers had extensive experience in the concrete industry.
The first generation of barriers consisted of large pieces of rubber glued together. In Bo Samuelsson’s garage on Öland, the second generation of the noise barrier was quickly developed. This version had a much more aesthetic appearance and a significantly better absorber, particularly from a maintenance perspective.
After six years of development, by 2005, several sections of railway-adjacent noise barriers were installed across Sweden, which led Z-bloc Norden AB to participate in the European project Quiet City between 2005 and 2009. Q-city aimed to develop effective noise reduction solutions, and within this project, Z-bloc Norden AB developed the third generation of trackside noise barriers, which were tested in Bro (Stockholm).
Both the frame and absorber were new, and the barrier featured entirely new safety solutions. Whereas previously, days, evenings, and weekends were spent on Öland dismantling and gluing car tires, the absorber was now constructed in an entirely new way, combining cavities with a denser rubber mat.
The primary goal was to ensure a long lifespan for the absorber while also enabling larger deliveries. The ability to handle large-scale deliveries was tested during the installation on the Botniabanan railway in 2009.
With the increased demand, Z-bloc Norden AB was able to move into its own industrial property in Färjestaden on Öland in 2010, giving us the capacity to both develop products and manufacture on a larger scale than before. In order to remain market leaders as low railway-adjacent barriers are increasingly used, we continuously embrace every opportunity to innovate and improve. The result is periodically seen in the form of new generations of barriers.
In 2013, an opportunity arose for a licensing agreement regarding a completely new type of absorber, one that combines excellent acoustic properties with important material technology characteristics. Seeing great potential in this new absorber, we used all our experience and knowledge to quickly develop an entirely new noise barrier optimally adapted for the new Vitrumit absorber.
We were proud to present the completely new railway-adjacent noise barriers, which we named Sound-block, by the summer of 2013.
