Abstract:

Efforts to limit the propagation of traffic noise tend to focus on the use of noise barriers and their associated insertion loss. Bearing in mind that the source which contributes most to roadside automobile noise at highway speeds is tire/pavement interaction, an investigation into the use of ``quiet'' pavements to reduce tire/pavement interaction noise, and thus attenuate traffic noise at the source, has been undertaken. Using the trailer method, onboard and roadside measurements have been made of tire/pavement interaction noise on various pavements currently in use in the state of Texas, as well as in the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, South Africa. Preliminary results obtained with a test-vehicle speed of 60 mph show that reductions in roadside noise levels from 4 to 15 dB can be achieved with ``quiet'' pavements. [Work supported by the Texas Department of Transportation.]