Assessment of Highway Pavements for Tire/Road Noise Generation

With the growing recognition that pavement selection can be an effective traffic noise abatement tool, there has been increased need for developing methods to characterize tire/road noise generation for existing and experimental highway surfaces. To address this need, sound intensity measured on-board a test vehicle has been developed as an alternative technique to wayside, passby, or trailer methods. As part of this development, the relationship between sound intensity measured close to a moving tire contact patch and coastby sound pressure data measured at stationary point 7.5 meters away has been demonstrated for different tires and road surfaces. A protocol for sound intensity measurement on existing highways in traffic has also been developed. Using these, a library of the tire/road noise levels has been assembled for California State Highways and experimental highway test sections. The goal of this work is to aid in the decision process for determining when and how effective pavement selection can be used to reduce highway noise levels. In this paper, data relating the sound intensity and coastby measurements, data from a range existing highway pavement surfaces, and data from experimental test sections are presented. From these, the potential for using “quiet” pavements to abate noise and the effect of pavement parameters such as surface texture and porosity are examined.