Effectiveness of Tire/Road Noise Abatement Through Surface Retexturing by Diamond Grinding

A portion of I-76, near Akron, Ohio, had been reconstructed by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) using concrete to replace the previous surface, which was constructed of asphalt. In the process of reconstruction, the concrete surface was textured with random transverse grooves to comply with the current ODOT specification. Subsequent to construction, residents living in the project area as far as 2600 ft (800 m) from the roadway, perceived an unfavorable difference in their noise environment, which they attributed to the new concrete pavement used on the reconstruction project. Therefore, a project was initiated to retexture the pavement surface by diamond grinding. The transverse grooves were replaced with longitudinal grooves. Traffic noise measurements were made before and after grinding at five sites in the project area, at distances from 7.5 m to 120 m from the center of the near travel lane. The average reduction in broadband noise at 7.5 m was 3.5 dB, and the average reduction at 15 m was 3.1 dB. Spectrum analysis showed the greatest reduction in noise occurred at frequencies above 1 kHz and that the retexturing had little to no effect on frequencies less than 200 Hz.

• Record URL:
  http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/TransSysDev/Research/reportsandplans/Reports/2005/Environmental/134174-FR.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://www.dot.state.oh.us/research/2005/Environmental/134174-ES.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Ohio University, Athens

  Ohio Research Institute for Transportation and the Environment
  141 Stocker Engineering and Technology Center
  Athens, OH  United States  45701-2979

  Ohio Department of Transportation

  Office of Research and Development
  1980 West Broad Street
  Columbus, OH  United States  43223

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Herman, Lloyd A
  • Withers, Jared M
• Publication Date: 2005-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 96p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Concrete pavements; Diamond grinding; Interstate highways; Noise; Pavement grooving; Rolling contact; Specifications; Texture; Traffic noise
• Uncontrolled Terms: Longitudinal grooving
• Geographic Terms: Akron (Ohio)
• Subject Areas: Design; Energy; Environment; Highways; Pavements; I15: Environment; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01015048
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/OH-2005/009
• Contract Numbers: State Job No. 134174
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Dec 27 2005 12:37PM