VISUAL QUALITY IN NOISE BARRIER DESIGN

Noise barriers are highly visible structures in the highway landscape. Their design must include careful efforts to ensure visual quality. Multidisciplinary planning approaches, including the efforts of architects and landscape architects, can produce a barrier design which is visually compatible with the surrounding environment. Various visual design principles and elements should be considered in barrier design, including: character of the surrounding environment; line; form, texture, and color of the barrier; contrast, dominance, scale, proportional relationships of the barrier and its surroundings. Various designs, materials, and techniques can be employed to ensure that noise barriers are in harmony with their environment.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in TRB Unpublished Report No. 10, Highway Noise Mitigation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Blum, R F
• Publication Date: 1979-3

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: p. 157-165
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Unpublished Report
  • Issue Number: 10
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aesthetics; Environment; Noise barriers
• Old TRIS Terms: Barrier design
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00371905
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-11-9490
• Files: TRIS, TRB, USDOT
• Created Date: Apr 29 1983 12:00AM