REVIEW OF STRUCTURAL DESIGN CRITERIA FOR NOISE WALLS. FINAL REPORT

A comprehensive review of structural design criteria and practices for noise walls is presented in this report. The review is based on noise wall design data collected from ten States: Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These ten states account for more than 60 percent of the total length of noise walls built in the United States. The review of design documents from the States revealed that, while procedures and guidelines for the acoustic design of noise walls are practiced uniformly with minimum variation by State highway agencies, structural design practices vary widely from state to state. These variations stem from three factors: definition of load criteria, design methodologies, and design specifications. Currently, there are no AASHTO specifications for the structural design of noise walls. The applicable AASHTO document is entitled, "Standard Specifications for Structural Supports of Highway Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals." Review and analysis of structural design methodologies indicate that, in some cases, noise walls may be overdesigned due to a conservative approach resulting from adherence to existing AASHTO wind load criteria. Comparative cost analysis of various types of noise walls indicates that substantial cost savings could be achieved by adopting less conservative criteria, such as those of UBC, or by modifying AASHTO criteria as recommended in this report. Before accepting the modified AASHTO criteria, it is recommended that a risk analysis of noise wall design be performed.

• Corporate Authors:

  Analysis Group, Incorporated

  400 15th Street, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20003

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, 6300 Georgetown Pike
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Authors:
  • Basu, S
  • Akhter, G F
• Publication Date: 1985-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 66 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerodynamic force; Analysis; Costs; Design; Noise barriers; Reviews; Risk analysis; Specifications; Structural design; Wind
• Identifier Terms: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cost analysis; Design criteria; Wind load
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Finance; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00461960
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Highway Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/RD-86/184, AGI-ES-RD-85-4, FCP 33B2-042
• Contract Numbers: DOT-FH-61-84-C-00060
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 31 1989 12:00AM