Effects of Operation Time of Pavement and Traffic Flow on the Traffic Noise of the Highways in an Urban Area

Abstract

In developed as well as less developed countries, traffic noise is one of the main sources of societal noise pollution. In this research, a series of field experiments are conducted on highways with new and old pavements. The variations of the traffic flow and traffic noise pressure levels together with the functional relationship between them are analyzed based on the noise data collected from the highways in an urban area. With the collected data, the maximum traffic flow and traffic noise pressure levels are determined in a time specified manner. Logarithmic functional relationships are found between the traffic noise pressure level and traffic flow for both the old and new pavements. It is also found in the research, the improvement in the road re-pavement may promote the absorption of the traffic noise. A single value index is developed for quantitatively and conveniently evaluating the acoustic quality of highways. The findings in this research may give some inspiration for construction and management of low noise highways.

Keywords: acoustic measurement, traffic noise, highway pavement, traffic flow, noise pollution, traffic noise pressure