Abstract
Abstract In this study, the traffic noise degradation in asphalt pavements was analysed using the ‘Statistical Pass-By method’. The sound levels of two surfaces were monitored during 9 and 12 years of service, respectively. By comparing the dependencies of the maximum A-weighted sound pressure level on logarithm of vehicle velocity, an increase in the sound level was found at all recorded speeds. Following an analysis of sound levels, as combined with the statistical pass-by index (SPBI) calculated versus age (expressed in vehicles), it was determined that the noise is an increasing power function of SPBI values on vehicle passes, based on an approximation of noise level adjustment to a reference temperature of 20 °C (using a coefficient of 0.06 for asphalt concrete surface AC11 and - 0.03 for mastic asphalt SMA11). The adjusted traffic noise degradation model showed that the SMA11 surface has a higher resistance to acoustic degradation than AC11 surface.
Highlights
Road planning considers the demands of present and future users, road agencies, and society to assure optimum structural performance, serviceability, and sustainability, while minimising the longterm financial and environmental costs
By comparing the regressions of the maximum A-weighted sound level on the logarithm of the real vehicle velocity for vehicle categories 1, 2a, and 2b in the year 2008 and after 9 or 12 years of service, there was an increase in the sound level at all recorded speeds
Based on repeated noise measurements during the service of the monitored sections, the correlations were determined for the statistical pass-by index (SPBI) indexes of the wearing courses SMA 11 and AC 11 on the number of all vehicle passes, and for high and medium driving speeds
Summary
Road planning considers the demands of present and future users, road agencies, and society to assure optimum structural performance, serviceability, and sustainability, while minimising the longterm financial and environmental costs. Road users expect traffic safety, driving comfort, economical travel, and environmentally friendly services. These expectations imply performance-related requirements on road pavement surfaces, such as skid resistance, evenness, and homogeneity without distress, along with low noise and pollution emissions [1, 2]. The performance-related and safety characteristics of a surface change owing to traffic loading and environmental effects; so, do its acoustic properties. The acoustic performance of road surfaces expressed by time dependence is presented in the literature [9] as linear, logarithmic, or exponential functions with an increase between 0.03 and 5 dB per year. The increase in tyre/road noise levels in time is very different among the different surfaces (mixture type in wearing course), traffic loading, and climatic conditions. Logarithmic regression model by [10] of noise level on a combination of a set of factors (pavement type, traffic data - heavy traffic, climatic conditions – annual precipitation, number of freeze-thaw cycles, number of ice days) shows a strong impact of climatic factors on acoustical
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