A NOISE MODEL AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR HIGHWAY NOISE ABATEMENT DESIGN

THE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER WAS TO ACQUAINT THE READER WITH A PARTICULAR HIGHWAY NOISE MODEL. THE MODEL HAS BEEN PROGRAMMED FOR USE ON A COMPUTER AND IS A USEFUL TOOL IN ANALYZING THE RESULTS OF VARIOUS HIGHWAY NOISE ABATEMENT DESIGNS. THREE TYPES OF INPUT WERE USED IN THE MODEL. THE THE FIRST SET OF INPUTS DESCRIBES THE ROADWAY AND ADJOINING BARRIERS IN TERMS OF WIDTHS, HEIGHTS, AND PLACEMENT ANGELES; THE SECOND SET OF INPUTS DESCRIBES THE SOUND SOURCES; AND THE FINAL SET OF INPUTS DESCRIBES THE RECEIVER LOCATIONS. ONE OF THE SERIOUS LIMITATIONS OF THE MODEL IS ITS FAILURE TO TREAT REFRACTION AS AN INTIMATE PART OF THE PHYSICAL PHENOMENA WHICH GOVERN THE SOUND FIELD DISTRIBUTION RELATED TO A HIGHWAY CCONFIGURATION AND ITS ENVIRONMENT. ALSO, THE DEGREE TO WHICH PARTICULAR VARIABLES CAN BE ESTIMATED RANGES FROM GOOD TO VERY POOR. UNDER CONSTANT CONDITIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, THE EFFECTS OF DISTANCE, VEHICLE DENSITY AND VEHICLE SPEED CAN BE ACCURAGELY PREDICTED. AT THE OTHER EXTREME, HOWEVER, VERY LITTLE HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS, WIND DIRECTION AND SPEED GRADIENTS, OR TREES AND SHURBBERY. INSOFAR AS THE STATE-OF-THE-ART EXISTS, WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT EACH OF THE VARIABLES AND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE VARIABLES HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE MODEL. THE MODEL AS OF SEPT. 1971 REPRESENTED A STATE-OF-THE-ART TOOL FOR HIGHWAY NOISE ABATEMENT DESIGN.

• Authors:
  • Niebur, D
• Publication Date: 1971-12

Media Info

• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: p. 276-88
• Serial:
  • Am Assoc State Highway Officials Proc

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Computer programs; Highway design; Mathematical models; Noise; Noise control; Traffic noise
• Uncontrolled Terms: Models
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203840
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 15 1974 12:00AM