Abstract
In the modern world, noise pollution continues to be a major problem that impairs people’s health, and road traffic is a primary contributor to noise emissions. This article describes an environmental impact study of the noise generated by the reconstruction of an urban section of a highway. Noise maps were calculated, and an environmental impact matrix was generated to determine the environmental impact of this reconstruction. The implementation of noise barriers was simulated based on these noise maps, and the effectiveness of the barriers was evaluated using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) combined with Design of Experiments (DoE). A functional variable significance analysis was then made for two parameters, namely, the coefficient of absorption of the barrier material and the barrier height. The aim was to determine the influence of these parameters on sound attenuation and on the formation of acoustic shadows. The results obtained from the ANNs and DoE were consistent in demonstrating that the absorption coefficient strongly influences the noise attenuation provided by noise barriers, while barrier height is correlated with the formation of larger areas of acoustic shadow. The environmental impact matrix also indicates that the existence of noise pollution has a negative effect on the environment, but that this impact can be reversed or minimized. The application of simulated noise barriers demonstrated that noise levels can be reduced to legally acceptable levels.
Highlights
The most important noise sources that affect the living environment of humans in modern society are railway traffic [1,2], airports [3,4], and industrial plants [5,6], as well as a new noise source, namely, wind turbines installed in non-urban areas, which has not been acoustically monitored but is considered highly annoying [7,8]
Urban dynamics strongly influences the modulation of the acoustic environment, where noise pollution is one of the most harmful pollutants resulting from these dynamics, when noise assessment is not considered as an urban planning strategy [11]
The results were divided into two steps: (i) comparison and evaluation of environmental impacts
Summary
The most important noise sources that affect the living environment of humans in modern society are railway traffic [1,2], airports [3,4], and industrial plants [5,6], as well as a new noise source, namely, wind turbines installed in non-urban areas, which has not been acoustically monitored but is considered highly annoying [7,8]. Road traffic is not the most annoying source of noise, it remains the most harmful and widespread source, which leads to air pollution [9,10]. Urban dynamics strongly influences the modulation of the acoustic environment, where noise pollution is one of the most harmful pollutants resulting from these dynamics, when noise assessment is not considered as an urban planning strategy [11]. Noise pollution is known to cause health problems for humans [12], intruding upon their relaxation [13], causing annoyance [14], sleep disorders [15], learning impairments [16], hypertension and ischemic heart disease [17], etc.
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