State-of-the-Art Review on Sustainable Design and Construction of Quieter Pavements—Part 1: Traffic Noise Measurement and Abatement Techniques

Abstract

Noise pollution due to highway traffic has drawn the attention of transportation agencies worldwide. Noise pollution is an irritant to residents, especially in urban areas near roads with high traffic volume. In addition to its adverse effects on the quality of life, traffic noise can induce stress that could lead to sleep disturbance and anxiety. Traditionally, noise barrier walls have been used for highways to mitigate traffic noise. However, using barrier walls as a noise abatement measure has proven to be very expensive. In addition to the cost, noise barrier walls are not always effective because they must break the line of sight to work properly, which is not always possible in case of intersections or driveways. Therefore, researchers especially from Europe and USA have been very proactive to reduce the noise at source. A number of research studies show traffic noise can be reduced by using an alternative surface type or changing texture of the pavement while complying with other requirements of sustainability, i.e., safety, structural durability, construction and maintenance costs. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the research conducted on this subject. A review of the tire-pavement noise generation and amplification mechanism, various traffic noise measurement methods and correlation among these methods, in addition to the abatement techniques used by various agencies to reduce pavement noise, is also presented.

Effect of Pavement Surface Aging on Tire-Pavement Noise: A Case Study in the State of Qatar

“…The OBSI method for noise measurement was selected because it allows pavement engineers to investigate and compare tire-pavement noise in great details. In addition, the OBSI method provides a direct measure of sound intensity in close proximity to the tire-pavement interface and allows various influencing factors affecting pavement noise to be directly compared [8,9]. The OBSI method consists of measuring the sound intensity at or near the tire-pavement interface.…”

Sustainable Mobility: A Review of Possible Actions and Policies

“…The impacts of noise on human health have been the focus of attention for many years; some reviews can be found in [109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116]. Infrastructures and mitigation methods were studied, among others, in [117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128]. Finally, the reduction of noise produced by engines has been studied in [129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136][137].…”

Pass-by Characterization of Noise Emitted by Different Categories of Seagoing Ships in Ports

“…After the publication of European Noise Directive 2002/49/EC (END) [21], sustainability has grown towards the noise sources required by END: road and railway traffic [22][23][24], airports [25,26], and wind turbines [27,28]. For these type of noise sources, the scientific community has put a lot of effort into developing innovative and environmentally-friendly mitigations, such as low-noise pavements [29,30], live and integrated monitoring systems [31,32], sustainable metamaterial absorber [33,34], and sonic crystal noise barriers made of recycled materials [35].…”