scholarly journals LIFE SOUNDLESS: New Generation of Eco-Friendly Asphalt with Recycled Materials

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Angel Morcillo ◽  
María Elena Hidalgo ◽  
María del Carmen Pastrana ◽  
David García ◽  
Juana Torres ◽  
...  

Noise pollution coming from traffic noise has become an important issue in urban areas. Road noise is one of the main sources of high-level traffic noise. Road noise depends not only on tires but on the pavement. Therefore, a study of mixture parameters should be performed to achieve good acoustic performance. Another important point which has to be taken into account is the acoustic performance durability. Gap-graded mixtures were selected for this project due to poor experiences with open-graded mixtures in terms of performance durability, where texture and clogging issues appeared a few years after paving. The LIFE SOUNDLESS project is seeking different ways to modify stone mastic asphalt mixes to improve the noise attenuation of pavements. A selection of mixes with different additives were created, where some waste materials were used. The selection of the best mixtures was done not only according to traditional mechanical parameters but also others, such as damping and dynamic stiffness. Once the best mixtures had been paved, the acoustic performances were measured several times to evaluate the performance durability. Several experimental methods like the close proximity (CPX) method and statistical pass by (SPB) method were used to check the sound generation and propagation of every pavement. The project was carried out on two roads overseen by the Junta de Andalucía in Seville (Spain). The difference between both roads was the traffic density and the average speed. The noise level has since been reduced by 3 dB and 7 dB on both sites.

Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 614
Author(s):  
Hsiao Mun Lee ◽  
Andi Haris ◽  
Kian Meng Lim ◽  
Jinlong Xie ◽  
Heow Pueh Lee

In the present study, a conventional plenum window was incorporated with perforated thin box in order to enhance its performance at frequency range which centralized at 1000 Hz as most of the common noise sources at city nowadays are centralizing around this frequency. The entire studies were conducted in a reverberation room. The effectiveness of jagged flap on mitigating diffracted sound was also studied. Three types of noises were examined in the current study—white noise, traffic noise and construction noises. The experimental results showed that the plenum window with perforated thin box could reduce 8.4 dBA, 8.7 dBA and 6.9 dBA of white, traffic and construction noises, respectively. The jagged flaps did not have significant effect on the plenum window’s noise mitigation performance. When frequencies were ranging from 800 Hz to 1250 Hz, when compared with the case of without perforated thin box, it was found that the perforated thin box had good acoustic performance where it was able to reduce additional 1.6 dBA, 1.6 dBA and 1.2 dBA of white, construction and traffic noises, respectively.


Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Alsina-Pagès ◽  
Robert Garcia Almazán ◽  
Marc Vilella ◽  
Marc Pons

Noise pollution is a critical factor and it has an important impact on public health, with the relationship between road traffic noise (RTN) and several illnesses in urban areas of particular concern. Andorra is currently developing a national strategy regarding noise pollution in their urban environments. The Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability is trying to to identify, monitor, map and model the effects of noise pollution and design mitigation policies to reduce the impact in certain priority areas. This analysis should take into account the existence of different types of anomalous noise events (ANEs) present in the street, e.g., horns, people talking, music, and other events that coexist with RTN, to characterize the soundscape of each of the locations. This paper presents a preliminary analysis considering both the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and the duration of the ANEs to evaluate their presence in urban areas in the three different locations in Andorra la Vella and Escaldes-Engordany. The experiments conducted required a 10-h recording campaign distributed in the three locations under study, which was evaluated on two different days, one during the week and the other on the weekend. Afterwards, the data were carefully labeled and the SNR of each event was evaluated to determine the potential impact of the four categories under study: vehicles, works, city life and people.


Noise Mapping ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Alves ◽  
Joachim Scheuren ◽  
Beate Altreuther

AbstractNoise pollution is one of the major environmental problems affecting European citizens in urban areas. Although the Environmental Noise Directive is in force since 2002, there is still a gap between defined objectives and outcomes. The EU Seventh Environment Action Programme attempts to achieve the reduction of noise pollution by means of more effective European noise policies. This must be coupled with providing assistance to local administrations on dealing with existing noise problems, for example through Urban Sound Planners. The aim of this paper is to present the results of a systematic review of European projects addressing urban sound planning topics and furthermore an overview of the most relevant research results that can be applied by practitioners. In order to understand the European funding strategy, the most valued research topics (number of projects and funding support) are assessed. A key finding of this review is the disagreement between air traffic noise research funding and its importance on overall noise exposure. Another finding is that the scientific knowledge for urban sound planning exists but it requires adequately dissemination of results, among the policy makers and local authorities, who are usually responsible for policy implementation.


1970 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-440
Author(s):  
Tayyaba Aftab ◽  
Farzana Bashir ◽  
Tahira Shafiq

A road traffic noise study was conducted in Lahore at 18 busy places of high traffic flow in peak working hours of the day. It has been found that the day time average noise level has crossed the permissible limit of 85dB(A) at 90% busy points in the city. The maximum average noise level recorded in Lahore was 104 dB(A). This high level attributed to vehicular traffic specially auto rickshaw with ineffective silencers (without filters) and frequent use of the pressure horns by buses, wagons and trucks etc. The findings of the survey provide enough baseline data for engineering controls and interim legislation against traffic noise pollution. Key words: Noise pollution, Traffics load , Community health, Lahore city Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res. 42(4), 435-440, 2007


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 137-151
Author(s):  
Shno Mustafa Ali ◽  
Ako Rashed Hama ◽  
Younis Mustafa Ali

This study is an approach to assign the land area of  Kirkuk city [ a city located in the northern of Iraq, 236 kilometers north of  Baghdad  and 83 kilometers  south of  Erbil [ Climatic atlas of  Iraq, 1941-1970  ]  into different  multi zones by using Satellite image and Arc Map10.3,  zones of different traffic noise pollutions. Land zonings process like what achieved in this paper will help and of it’s of a high interest point for the future of Kirkuk city especially urban planning and economic issues of the city. Also, it may be considered as a reference in solving the traffic jam problems in the city. Transportations and sounds of horn of vehicles are the major sources of traffic noise pollutions .Vehicular traffic noise problems are contributed by various types of vehicles such as heavy and medium trucks or buses or automobiles. During this study, six major regions within the city were selected (Governorate region, Baghdad road, Al Wasti, Al Askary, Al Nasir and North garage). A survey for all those six regions were taken place  and noise measurements  were captured at points  or  near to the  intersections  for a duration of three different periods days per a week  [  Sunday 3rd , Monday 4th , and  Tuesday 5th] of January 2016. The results showed  a  high level of noise pollution and super passing on many occasions to the prescribed levels by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) , maximum level noise pollution  value was 94.6 dB(A) in AlWasti region near to the road that leading to Kirkuk university , while minimum level noise pollution  value was 48 dB(A) in AlNasir region. As a result, a noise map zoning was prepared for Kirkuk City for top peak working three days. The prepared noise distribution map will help and could be used as a considerable point for the future during designing projects related to transportations. Also in another hand, the map reflected indirectly the amount of regional air pollutions. High distributed noise pollution zones means a zone of a high air pollutions levels specially Cox and Nox gaseous pollutions.  


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 289-296
Author(s):  
Valentin Petrescu ◽  
Rodica Ciudin ◽  
Claudiu Isarie ◽  
Lucian Ionel Cioca ◽  
Victor Nederita

AbstractNoise reduction for urban areas, especially noise generated by traffic is one of the major problems in today’s European cities. This paper is focused on more aspects that are addressing to traffic noise, like pavement, driver’s behavior, frequency of stops, pick hours, traffic agglomerations, etc. Research leading to this paper was conducted within the project “Adaptation to the Climate Change” developed in partnership with Environmental protection Agency Sibiu, focusing for this case study on traffic related pollution in a historical city center of Sibiu. Were considered three types of pavements (cobblestones, streets covered with dense asphalt, and graded asphalt road surfaces), three types of vehicles (small passenger car, family car and SUV), and testing’s were done using 3M Quest SoundPro Sonometer. Higher noise levels were registered for cobblestone and dense asphalt surfaces. Acoustic measurements and maps emphasizing studied are presented, and the identified parameters considered to be related to the traffic noise are given.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1145 ◽  
pp. 140-145
Author(s):  
Petr Kozak ◽  
Radka Matuszkova ◽  
Michal Radimsky

The noise pollution is an important factor for people living near roads. The road traffic noise is endangering the health of these residents and the quality of their lives. The tyre / road noise became the most significant source of the road traffic noise due reduced noise emissions from the vehicle propulsion system by the automotive industry. An important recent trend is increasing the traffic safety by improving anti-skid properties of roads in critical locations. Experts have concluded that some anti-skid modifications may increase the noise pollution. Because the usage of such pavements is predominantly in urban areas, problems may occur. This paper deals with the noise level of the safety anti-skid modification of the road surface used in the urban areas. Based on the presented measurement values it can be said that the RocbindaTM safety anti-skid modification does not achieve any increased acoustic performance compared to the asphalt pavement.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1316
Author(s):  
Agata Pawłat-Zawrzykraj ◽  
Paweł Oglęcki ◽  
Konrad Podawca

There is no doubt that the NATURA 2000 network has been one of the most relevant tools for nature protection. However, the designated areas within the borders of large cities are subjected to many threats. Traffic noise takes on a very important role in this subject, posing the question of whether NATURA 2000 areas should be located in urban areas strongly affected by noise pollution. This particular topic was exposed and analysed at Bielański Forest NATURA 2000 (PLH140041), located in northern Warsaw, where changes in noise distribution for the years 2007–2017 were examined and described by two types of indicators (Lden and Lnight). The data sources used for the analysis were city road noise maps for 2007, 2012 and 2017. Additionally, sound intensity measurements were taken in two separate groups of hot-spots. The first of these comprised locations determined based on an inventory of avifauna; they represented different habitat types, and were characterized by the highest bird activity. The second group of hot-spots consisted of those designated along roads in order to identify the main sources of traffic noise. The obtained results confirmed the high noise-absorbing ability of the existing vegetation. The avifauna surveys covered 19 forest bird species. Five of them were considered to be the most valuable and rare elements of the local avifauna, whereas 14 appeared to be key species for the functioning of biocenosis and, at the same time, determine the uniqueness of the ecosystem. The study showed that the type of habitat rather than differences in noise levels determines the distribution and abundance of key species. Therefore, there is a necessity to focus on actions that guarantee the maintenance of the existing status in order to counteract habitat deterioration. The investigation confirmed the feasibility of creating these kinds of natural protected areas in large cities, despite their exposure to noise pollution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Mariano Gallo

In this paper, a piecewise-defined function is proposed to estimate traffic noise in urban areas. The proposed approach allows the use of the model even in the case of very low or zero flows for which the classical logarithmic form is not suitable. A model based on the proposed approach is calibrated for a real case and compared with the results obtained with a model based only on the logarithmic form. The results obtained show how the proposed piecewise-defined function, linear for low traffic flows and logarithmic for medium-high volumes, is able to better represent real noise pollution levels in all conditions. The proposed approach is particularly useful when comparing two plan scenarios from the point of view of noise effects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 858 ◽  
pp. 282-286
Author(s):  
Petr Kozak ◽  
Ondrej Dasek ◽  
Radka Matuszkova ◽  
Michal Radimsky

Current requirements for the reduction of the noise pollution in inhabited areas are constantly increasing. Acoustic wearing courses represent the real measures how to directly mitigate sources of road traffic noise created by a tire/road contact. Directly reduced noise emissions created by a tire/road contact don't need further mitigation by expensive noise barriers. Noise emissions on two different types of wearing courses of asphalt mixtures (Asphalt concrete for very thin layers and Low-noise stone mastic asphalt) were measured using the specialized device operating on the basis of CPX (Close Proximity method) and compared with the standard mixture of Asphalt concrete. Differences were between 1 dB and 5 dB depending on the wearing course and the vehicle speed. The efficiency of the low-noise asphalt pavements was also compared with the initial costs of the pavements. The economical evaluation confirmed that the initial costs of the acoustic wearing courses are higher than the costs of the standard asphalt concrete mixture. However the noise reduction by 1 dB using the asphalt concrete for very thin layers increases the costs just by 350 USD (considering the same length and width of the road segment), which makes acoustic wearing courses the economically efficient noise reducing measure.


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