Deployment of the Next Generation Concrete Surface in Minnesota

Abstract

Development of a quiet diamond grinding configuration commenced in an initial laboratory effort at Purdue University, followed by research iterations from 2007 to 2010 at the pavement test track research facility (MnROAD) of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT). This paper catalogues the stages in the development and deployment of the Next Generation Concrete Surface (NGCS) from the configuration development at MnROAD, coupled with the simultaneous development of a tire–pavement noise predictive model deployed on Interstate 94 near Saint Cloud, Interstate 35 in Duluth, and Interstate 394 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NGCS in these projects caused noise reduction of 3 to 6 dB, representing 50% to 75% sound intensity reduction. Diamond grinding was performed on the preexisting textures: burlap drag on Interstate Highway 94 near Saint Cloud, transverse tining on Interstate Highway 35 in Duluth, and Ultra-Thin Bonded Wearing Course (UTBWC) on Interstate 394, Minnesota DOT exceeded the goal of not increasing the pregrind tire–pavement noise level by these rehabilitations. The predictive tire–pavement interaction noise model was validated in these deployments, including on Interstate 394, where the full acoustic benefit of NGCS had been attenuated by the anomalous effect of undulations reminiscent of the previous concrete–UTBWC interface, which had inadvertently conferred a background configuration to the new diamond-ground surface.