Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
1.0 Introduction:
Noise pollution is one of the most crucial environmental concern across the globe. There are
several causes of noise pollution like rapid industrialization, poor urban planning, social events,
construction activities and transportation(“Understanding Noise Pollution”). This has become a
serious concern for the society as it causes several psychological disorders, cardio-vascular
issues, sleeping disorders and various other health hazards. The noise produced due to
transportation activities generally refers to the roadside noise experienced by the community and
facilities residing in the vicinity of the road network. Due to the exponential increase in traffic
on roads, roadside noise has become a significant problem especially in urban areas. Therefore,
there is a constant effort by the transportation planners and pavement engineers to find
appropriate ways to reduce the noise generated in the movement of vehicles on roads as well as
rolling stocks on rails. There are several traditional methods adopted by urban planners to
counter the effects of noise at various places namely, insertion of obstructions such as barrier
walls that locally reduces the noise levels, increasing the distance between the road network and
the habitations nearby (Kandhal 2003). These approaches have now become obsolete due to
increase in urbanization, population and traffic which proves to be expensive nowadays. Thus,
researchers all across the world are trying to mitigate the problems of noise on roads by a proper
selection of pavement surface type like Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA), Open Graded Friction Course
(OGFC), Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) etc.
Considering any movement of vehicles on roads, the power unit and tyre-pavement interaction
forms the main source of noise. In the mid to high speed range of vehicle speed, tyre-road
interaction contributes significantly to the traffic noise due to the generation of acoustical
pressure (Praticò and Anfosso-Lédée 2012). Figure 1 represents the variation of noise expressed
as Sound Pressure Level (dB) with speed of vehicle and reveals the contribution of power unit
and tyre-pavement contact to noise pollution. Several tyre manufacturers have developed
numerous strategies and designs of tyres in order to enhance the durability, ride safety and
reduction in noise. However, it is not promising for significant noise reduction due to tyre-
pavement interactions. Thus, researchers are looking for optimum techniques in surfacing the
pavement to reduce the level of noise pollution due to vehicular activities (Staiano 2015). Some
researches reveals that the noise level can be controlled at three stages: source, along the sound
path and at the receivers’ end (Kandhal 2003; Liu et al. 2016). Typically, the source refers to the
vehicles, passenger cars etc. where noise is generated due to tyre-pavement interaction and path
refers to the area between where noise is generated and where it affects the flora and fauna which
can be prevented by installing barrier walls, screens, solid fences, trees etc. The receiver end
would be the community and the people who are affected by the noise and can control by
constructing raised doors, windows and walls. Hence, selection of optimum type of pavement
surface is one of the solutions as discussed earlier.
This paper focuses on several types of noise generated due to the movement of vehicles on
pavements, the contributing factors of noise generation, several types of noise, different
techniques used to estimate the amount of noise generated and finally the optimized pavement
technologies adopted in different parts of world.
Figure 1: Contribution of Power unit noise and tyre-pavement noise at different Vehicle speeds
2.0 Background:
The roadside noise produced due to movement of vehicles on roads is mainly governed by tyre-
pavement contact and depends on two main mechanisms: Mechanical vibrations and Air
vibrations. The mechanical vibrations are generated due to the repetitive impact loading between
the vehicle’s tread pattern and the pavement surface texture whereas air vibrations are generated
between road surface and tyre grooves. The rolling effect of tyres on pavement surface squeezes
out the air followed by compression and trapping of some air and then air is sucked back in. This
repeated compression and expansion of air occurs numerous times in a second which results into
vibrations thus causing high frequency noise (Praticò and Anfosso-Lédée 2012). The vibration
mechanisms are generally accompanied by some amplification mechanisms: acoustical horn,
Helmholtz resonance, pipe resonance, cavity resonance etc. that results into high pitch “stick-
snap” effect.
Despite of several noise control techniques, many pavement administrators insisted the use of
appropriate use of surface texturing, proper mix design, and judicious amount of pavement
thickness as well as considering the acoustical design of pavement. Literature reveals that the
noise reduction while optimizing the tyres is in a scale of 1 to 2dB whereas there is
comparatively more (4 to 8 dB) reduction in noise if the pavement surface characteristics are
taken into consideration in the acoustical design of a pavement (Haider et al. 2007).
The tyre-road noise is primarily characterized by surface texture of the top layer of the pavement
as well as the bulk properties (Sandberg and Ejsmont 2002). The following are the governing
factors contributing to the tyre-road noise generated due to vehicles:
Micro, macro and mega texture
Porosity
Thickness of pavement layers
Frictional resistance
Stiffness
Surface roughness or unevenness
The micro, macro and mega texture refers to the horizontal dimension of irregularities of a
pavement surface profile which depends on wavelength, frequency and vehicular speed. It is
noted that greater the surface textures on pavement lesser will be the noise generated due to air
pumping. Similarly, porosity is inversely related to noise produced and presence of voids
increases the noise levels due to presence of air filled in voids which causes compression and
expansion. Higher the thickness of pavement layer, lower is the noise pollution which can also
be achieved by increasing the number of layers. The stiffness of pavement surface is different
from that of pneumatic tyres which causes noise; hence modification in the design of the surface
layer plays a pivotal role in reducing noise which can be attributed by the use of additives which
can also influence the level of noise generated. Friction affects the “stick-slip” noise i.e. Lower
the friction, lesser is the contribution to noise. Adhesion affects the “stick-snap” noise which can
be attributed by the fact that lower micro-texture provides greater adhesion forces between tyres
and the pavement surface thus producing higher noise pollution.
The pavement surface layer can be HMA, OGFC, SMA, Thin layers, Rubberized asphalt, cement
concrete surface etc. which have been developed by several researchers in order to reduce the
noise at the source before it reaches the receivers (Kandhal 2003). The use of these mixes also
provides better skid resistance and reduced night glare during wet weather conditions so as to
reduce accidents. It acts as a drainage and friction course layer along with the noise reduction
layer. OGFC mixes is one such surface layer, which has been found to eliminate the danger of
hydroplaning, enhance surface friction, reduce splash and spray, and night glare during wet
weather conditions. OGFC mixes or PA mixes have interconnected voids and high permeability
thus serving the purpose of drainage (Afonso et al. 2017; Andrés-Valeri et al. 2018).
Noise Class A B C
100
Adopted Gradation
90 South African-LowerLlimit
South African Upper Limit
80
Georgia-DOT-Upper Limit
70 Georgia-DOT-Lower Limit
Percent Passing
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
19 12.5 9.5 4.75 2.36 0.075
Sieve Size, mm
5.0 Conclusion
Several researches have compared the noise levels generated due to the use of the optimized
pavement surface techniques and it is inferred that the noise reduction is quite significant as
compared to the conventional mixes i.e. HMA. It is also noticed that in order to reduce noise,
several other factors influencing the pavement such as friction, stiffness, drainage and infiltration
are also improved. According to a study conducted in US and Europe, the general ranking of the
asphalt pavement from quietest to loudest pavement surfaces is as follows: i) Porous asphalt, ii)
SMA, iii) Dense graded asphalt, iv) Broom-finished PCC, v) Transverse-tined PCC (Jones
2002). In developing countries like India, the use of such type of techniques is not so widely
used due to low budget roads and it is yet to consider the noise effects and acoustical design
methods unlike other countries. Even after discussing the benefits of such pavement surface
designs, there are some challenges to be faced like reduced life cycle, increased maintenance
costs, ageing effects etc. Hence, there is a need to explore the causes, construction process,
rehabilitation works and optimized maintenance techniques during the design process. There are
several loop holes in the existing techniques which needs to be bridged viz. there is a mixed
traffic condition in many countries and it is inappropriate to exclude the truck tyre noise in the
mitigation research. Infrastructure sustainability is one of the approaches towards the optimal use
of resources in presenting and preserving for the future generations to be implemented in
transportation sector. It is way to go when air pollution, noise pollution and other environmental
effects are combined together for the design of pavements which forms the scope for future
studies. In future, new technological improvements, advanced testing methods and expertise in
the vehicle, tyre and pavement technologies are expected to decrease the noise generated at the
source as an approach towards improvement in quality of life of the society.
References:
Afonso, M. L., Dinis-Almeida, M., and Fael, C. S. (2017). “Study of the porous asphalt
performance with cellulosic fibres.” Construction and Building Materials, 135, 104–111.
Andrés-Valeri, V. C., Rodriguez-Torres, J., Calzada-Perez, M. A., and Rodriguez-Hernandez, J.
(2018). “Exploratory study of porous asphalt mixtures with additions of reclaimed tetra pak
material.” Construction and Building Materials, 160, 233–239.
Baxter, R., Hastings, N., Law, A., and Glass, E. J. . (2008). “IRC SP 79:2008.” IRC SP 79:2008.
Chen, D., Ling, C., Wang, T., Su, Q., and Ye, A. (2018). “Prediction of tire-pavement noise of
porous asphalt mixture based on mixture surface texture level and distributions.”
Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier Ltd, 173, 801–810.
Haider, M., Descornet, G., Sandberg, U., and Pratico, F. G. (2007). “Road Traffic Noise
Emission : Recent Developments and Future Prospects.” 4th International SIIV Congress,
12.
Jones, W. (2002). “Highway Noise Control with HMA.” Asphalt Institute Field Engineer, 3(3),
14–15.
Kandhal, P. S. (2003). “How Asphalt pavements mitigate tire-pavement noise.” Better Roads,
73(11).
Kragh, J., Bendtsen, H., and Hildebrand, G. (2012). “Noise Classification for Tendering Quiet
Asphalt Wearing Courses.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 48, 570–579.
Liu, M., Huang, X., and Xue, G. (2016). “Effects of double layer porous asphalt pavement of
urban streets on noise reduction.” International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment,
The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development, 5(1), 183–196.
Praticò, F. G., and Anfosso-Lédée, F. (2012). “Trends and Issues in Mitigating Traffic Noise
through Quiet Pavements.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Elsevier B.V., 53,
203–212.
Sandberg, U., and Ejsmont, J. (2002). “Tyre/road noise.” INFORMEX Ejsmont & Sandberg.
Sangiorgi, C., Eskandarsefat, S., Tataranni, P., Simone, A., Vignali, V., Lantieri, C., and Dondi,
G. (2017). “A complete laboratory assessment of crumb rubber porous asphalt.”
Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier Ltd, 132, 500–507.
Staiano, M. A. (2015). Implications of tire-pavement noise & texture measurements.
“Understanding Noise Pollution.” (n.d.). <https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-
effects-of-noise-pollution.php>.