摘要: |
A portion of I-76, near Akron, OH, 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 feet 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 re-texture 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. |