The present work is a continuation of the investigation of a novel design for a noise barrier with a jagged top edge instead of the conventional straight top edge. Previous work showed that making the top edge of the barrier jagged can in some, but not all, cases reduce the strength of the diffracted sound field behind the barrier, although the barrier's performance depended on receiver location. The present work describes a profile for a jagged-edge barrier that substantially reduced (by almost 70%) the peak of the diffracted sound-pressure signal behind the barrier compared with the peak sound pressure at the same location behind a straight-edge barrier of the same average height. The noise reduction provided by an optimized design for the jagged-edge barrier did not depend on receiver location. The optimum geometry for the jagged-edge profile was determined from extensive numerical investigations of different design parameters using an analytical model termed the Directive Line Source Model. Subsequently, the performance of the jagged-edge profile was tested in the laboratory using a spark source in air. Good agreement between experimental data and numerical predictions supported the validity of the analytical model. © 2004 Institute of Noise Control Engineering