Noisiness of the Surfaces on Low-Speed Roads

Abstract

Traffic noise is a particular threat to the environment in the vicinity of roads. The level of the noise is influenced by traffic density and traffic composition, as well as vehicle speed and the type of surface. The article presents the results of studies on tire/road noise from passing vehicles at a speed of 40-80 kph, carried out by using the statistical pass-by method (SPB), on seven surfaces with different characteristics. It has been shown that increasing the speed from 40 kph to 50 kph contributes to the increase in the maximum A-weighted sound pressure level by about 3 dB, regardless of the type of surface. For larger differences in speed (30 kph-40 kph) increase in noise levels reaches values about 10 dB. In the case of higher speeds, this increase is slightly lower. In this article, special attention is paid to the noisiness from surfaces made of porous asphalt concrete (PAC), BBTM (thin asphalt layer), and stone mastic asphalt (SMA) with a maximum aggregate size of 8 mm and 5 mm. It has also been proved that surfaces of porous asphalt concrete, within two years after the commissioning, significantly contribute to a reduction of the maximum level of noise in the streets and roads with lower speed of passing cars. Reduction of the maximum A-weighted sound pressure level of a statistical car traveling at 60 kph reaches values of up to about 6 dB, as compared with the SMA11. Along with the exploitation of the road, air voids in the low-noise surface becomes clogged and acoustic properties of the road decrease to a level similar to standard asphalt.

Tire/road noise, texture, and vertical accelerations: Surface assessment of an urban road

“…A number of relatively recent works have studied the acoustic performance of SMA mixtures, particularly the relationship between tire/pavement noise and the maximum aggregate size [20], texture [21] or the acoustic absorption [22]. On the other hand, the acoustic performance of SMA mixtures has also been studied by Miljković and Radenberg [23] (thin noisereducing surface from an SMA mixture); Vuye et al [24] (SMA10 performance regarding a double-layer porous asphalt concrete); Gardziejczyk et al [25,26] (acoustic performance of the SMA11 by the statistical pass by method) and Sweczko-Zurek [27] (tire/road noise and the rolling resistance measured in a SMA11 mixture). Recently, Sangiorgi et al [28] have studied the SMA11 mixtures with CR by means of the CPX methodology, whereas Vazquez et al [29] have studied the acoustic performance of SMA mixtures with maximum aggregate size of 11 mm and 16 mm, using the CPX method.…”

Functional Performance of Stone Mastic Asphalt Pavements in Spain: Acoustic Assessment

“…According to this paper, the measured CPX levels of SMA11 pavements were between 89 and 91 dB(A) at 50 km/h, and between 96 and 99 dB(A) at 80 km/h. Gardziejczyk et al [17,18] studied the noisiness and acoustic durability of low noise pavements in Poland. A SMA11 bituminous mixture was assessed in this study by means of the statistical pass by method (SPB).…”

The Correlation Between the Statistical Pass-By Index Values and the Total Number of Vehicle Passes

“…Therefore, it is desirable to retain noise reduction performance for a long time [13]. Studies have been conducted on surface materials interacting with the rolling of vehicle wheels aiming to generate less acoustic energy, and suitable so-called 'low-noise surface' solutions have been proposed [5,[14][15][16]. The performance of low noise surfaces in time shows faster acoustic and structural ageing comparing with traditional asphalt surfaces.…”