THRESHOLD NOISE LEVELS

HUMAN TOLERANCE TO NOISE LEVELS CREATED BY VEHICULAR TRAFFIC HAS BEEN EXAMINED. A REVIEW OF AVAILABLE LITERATURE INDICATED THAT THERE ARE NUMEROUS SUGGESTED MAXIMUM HIGHWAY NOISE LEVELS, ALTHOUGH GENERAL CONSENSUS INDICATES THAT FOR A NOISE BEYOND 70 DBA COMPLAINTS ARE LIKELY. MOST INVESTIGATIONS PERTAIN ONLY TO DAYTIME NOISE LEVELS; THEREFORE, IT APPEARS THAT FUTURE STUDIES ARE NECESSARY TO DETERMINE ACCEPTABLE NIGHTTIME LEVELS. IN HIS CRITIQUE OF THE SYMPOSIUM "EVALUATING THE NOISES OF TRANSPORTATION," HIRSH NOTED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE AGREEMENT AS TO THE METHODS FOR MEASURING HIGHWAY NOISE AND THE ACCEPTABLE NOISE LEVELS FOR HIGHWAYS. INCLUDED IN THE STUDY REPORTED HERE ARE CONSIDERATIONS OF CONFLICTING STUDIES, REVIEWS OF THE LATEST STATE-OF-THE-ART AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAXIMUM SOUND PRESSURE LEVELS FOR HIGHWAYS. CONSIDERATION IS ALSO GIVEN TO THE SOURCES OF HIGHWAY NOISE, TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE AFFECTED BY HIGHWAY NOISE, AND TO THE ROLE VARIOUS LAND USES HAVE IN SELECTING MAXIMUM HIGHWAY SOUND LEVELS. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Res Rept 166-1, 26 PP
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011
• Authors:
  • Young, M F
  • Woods, D L
• Publication Date: 1970-12

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Engineering tolerance; Human beings; Perception; Traffic noise
• Old TRIS Terms: Thresholds (Perception); Tolerances
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223548
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 15 1971 12:00AM