With the expanded infrastructure and increasing traffic levels around residential and community areas around the city, highway noise pollution has been a growing and persisting challenge around the world.

To reduce noise pollution, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) policies identify five approved highway traffic noise abatement options with noise barriers currently being the primary method of abating traffic noise. However, while noise barriers are effective, they may not always be the best solution for reducing traffic noise pollution. Barriers can be costly to construct, requiring to be high enough and break the line-of-sight to be effective. Also, in areas with varying terrain and along arterial streets, their effectiveness can be reduced due to the gaps that are required to allow access to driveways and side streets.

In this Webinar, Dr. Abu Sufian will present a study recently completed by ARA which was sponsored by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), where the recent advancements and upcoming research needs in the area of highway noise characterization will be discussed along with the impact of quiet pavements and their effectiveness in reducing highway noise.

Discussion of this work will be followed by an overview of some acoustic methods related to pavement and transportation noise and vibration measurement. Instrumentation relevant to these measurements will be discussed, in addition to field deployment considerations. Example data will be presented, including subsequent analysis and interpretation. The seminar will conclude with future plans for further evaluation of pavement noise to include both research objectives and anticipated deployment of acoustic systems.

What participant will learn:

• Research needs and limitations in the area of highway noise characterization
• Different methods of measurement of road traffic noise
• Effectiveness of quiet pavements in reducing highway noise
• Equipment and methods for measurement of transportation noise