Comparison of tire-pavement noise characteristics of rubberized and conventional asphalt concrete mixes

Abstract

This study compares tire/pavement noise characteristics of flexible pavement sections in California using the On-Board Sound Intensity (OBSI) method. Two experiments are presented in this work. The first one compares noise properties of pavement sections of different ages constructed with open-graded rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC-O) and gap-graded rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC-G) versus sections with conventional open-graded asphalt concrete (OGAC) and dense-graded asphalt concrete (DGAC). The second experiment compares the performance of trial sections that used different modified rubberized asphalt mixes as surface course. The results show that, compared with conventional asphalt concrete surface course of the same age, rubberized asphalt concrete surface courses have lower tire-pavement noise levels. The reduction comes mainly from better durability of rubberized asphalt concrete mixes. Additional information analyzed in this quieter pavement research study includes the effect of mix design variables and pavement surface distresses on tire-pavement noise characteristics of rubberized and conventional asphalt concrete mixes.