Title: Acoustic classification of road pavements: ranking differences due to distance from the road

Authors: M.C. Berengier, J.F. Hamet

Addresses: Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussees, Centre de Nantes, B.P. 19, 44340 Bouguenais, France. ' Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Securite, 25, av Francois Mitterand, Case 24, 69675 Bron, France

Abstract: In a majority of industrialised countries, traffic noise abatement is considered as essential. Road pavements can contribute to this challenge. Researches carried out in the past ten years have made it possible to rank the acoustic performances of pavements for short range conditions in terms of A-weighted vehicle pass-by sound pressure levels L_Amax This classification has now to be confirmed for long range situations in terms of A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels L_Aeq, an indicator currently used for environmental nuisances. This is the purpose of this paper, which presents theoretical and experimental results concerning the ranking changes at various distances from the road and for three kinds of acoustically different pavements. Preliminary results show that the ranking close to the road seems to be preserved at distances up to 200 m with some differences depending on the considered reference period (6h-22h or 22h-6h) which can be attributed to weather and traffic conditions.

Keywords: atmospheric conditions; noise abatement; pavement classification; road pavements; traffic noise.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.1999.054626

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 1999 Vol.6 No.1/2/3/4, pp.13 - 27

Published online: 18 Jun 2013 *

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