A noise barrier must be both feasible and reasonable if it is to be constructed with a highway project. The reasonability of a noisewall is determined by factors such as cost, amount of reduction in noise, safety, and site features. Decisions on noise mitigation locations are determined on a case-by-case bases. Another criterion for highway sound barriers is the barrier height. For the barrier to be effective, it must be high enough.
Therefore, in order to be reasonable and feasible for the construction of a noise barrier at the edge of a transportation line, the heights of the buildings and the structures affected by the noise should be examined.
Since the acoustic barrier fence height can create problems in terms of aesthetics and cost in practice. The height issue should be handled on a project-specific basis before the construction of the barriers. Especially when determining the height of the barriers to be built on the edge of urban transport networks, the height criterion required to ensure adequate noise reduction may not apply, and the visual impact of the barrier height may be decisive for the final decision. Today, noise barriers can be made of various materials.
These materials include concrete, metal, plastic, transparent materials such as acrylic and glass , clay masonry units, wood, and reinforced gas concrete and rubber sound barrier panels. In addition to this, planting, planting soil sets or noise barriers built on the sets are also used for noise control. When selecting materials, the criteria related to the visual character and structural quality of the material in the landscape should be considered together.
Structural durability, weather resistance, need for maintenance and repair, fire resistance, ease of installation, initial and life cycle cost are among the criteria that should be considered besides acoustic requirements. In addition, vandalism resistant materials should be preferred. Soft and light materials that can be cut and scratched can easily be damaged. The criteria that are effective in noise barrier design can be divided into two categories as acoustic and non-acoustic criteria.
Since noise barriers are tall and tall buildings due to their structure, they should be designed with a holistic approach by considering the urban architecture, landscaping, the visual effects on neighboring buildings, and the visual effects on the road together with its acoustic and structural performance.
The visual perception of noise barriers should be considered in two different ways: While they are perceived by drivers as a linear and temporary structure.
They are perceived as a part of the permanent structure and landscape they see every day by the occupants and pedestrians in the adjacent buildings. In some approaches, highway soundproof walls are placed as a monumental element in the existing landscape, materials and details are selected accordingly. In another approach, it is included in the landscape in a way that is unobtrusive and compatible with the environment.
No matter which design approach is adopted, highway noise barriers should be designed considering the architecture and landscape of the environment in which they are located.
Hatko Noise Barrier provides alternative solutions that enable various barrier designs with its acoustic and structural features. Noise barriers with sufficient sound insulation value significantly prevent the direct transmission of sound waves. The sound insulation of a noise barrier depends on the mass of the material.
The performance of a noise barrier for airborne sound insulation is expressed as an odd number in dB by DLR. The system is certified for both noise sources. B4 represents the best performance class in the classification of airborne sound insulation.
Even if we use material of sufficient density for sound insulation, sealing between the component materials must be ensured. When mentioning the structural life of a noise barrier , the formation of such small holes and voids in the material should also be taken into account. Hatko Sound Barriers during the life of any section loss, holes, gap formation is not observed.
The sound broken from the peak of the noise barrier is one of the factors affecting the acoustic performance of the barrier. If the receiver is in the acoustic shadow zone of the barrier as significant reductions in overall sound level on the receiver side can be achieved. In the effect of the broken sound on the overall sound level, the length of the sound traveled is also important.
Noise from transportation is even more recent. During the height of late 19th century industrial manufacturing, the city and its factories were the source of the majority of noise, joined later by the railway system.
The origin point of our current highways and the concept of the commute both date from the last quarter of the 19th century. In some cities such as Chicago and New York, the establishment of railway transit in resulted in suburbs such as Oak Park and Queens.
In other parts of America, the invention of the streetcar spawned the first generation of suburbs , and the middle and upper classes began slowly trickling out of the cities to escape both the air and noise pollution.
At the time, rail travel in the US was a robust and thriving system, with many companies owning and operating sprawling lines. Noise in these communities could be expected at regularly scheduled intervals, and the sound levels of trains or streetcars passing through was nowhere near substantial enough to cause hearing damage. These same areas are louder today than they have ever been.
These systems limited the amount of sprawl outside of cities, as commuter lines were expensive and time consuming to build. Their decline began with the notorious dismantling of the streetcar system thanks in part to collusion between General Motors, Standard Oil, and other industry insiders, combined with a population who, lured by the perception of freedom, preferred to car. Shortly after, the first Federal Highway Act established the first interstate road systems, which triggered the first generation of automobile suburb subsequently interrupted by the Great Depression and World War II.
Rapid suburbanization post-WWII caused by the post-war policies of the Federal Housing and Veterans Administrations combined with the massive road building spurred by the Federal Highway Act of made noise virtually inescapable as more and more people flocked to the way of the car.
Somehow, during this time, engineers and developer ignored the obvious fact that highways and cars created noise. They made no attempt to develop or standardize any form of noise control before embarking on mass construction. The opportunity to establish widespread protocols for noise reduction at the source, such as slower driving speeds and the preservation of green barriers between highways and communities, was lost.
It took until the late 60s for people to realize the effects noise can have on everyday life. Aside from hearing loss, noise exposure is linked to psychological problems such as feelings of isolation, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and a reduced efficiency at completing tasks, as well as physical problems like high blood pressure, insomnia, and fatigue. Those displaced by highways during the urban renewal era, often poor communities and communities of color who often lacked the resources to fight back against development, were left to suffer the ceaseless noise as countless others including those who helped cause the problem simultaneously escaped its adverse effects.
For many of these communities, the sound wall, while reducing the noise, also fostered a sense of further isolation. Walls are a powerful image, and the sound wall could be seen as a metaphor for the crisis of modernity, sprawl, and ill-conceived ideas of progress. So important and really nice article. Next thing is to remove car horns and sirens, with smartphones and smart-cars, these devices could relay information when a horn is honked or when a siren is activated in an emergency vehicle, sound pollution is out of control.
I heard just this week that smart cars are being designed to be louder because of dangers with visually impaired people. Thought you might want to make an edit! I grew up in New York and always appreciated the pretty birdies on the noise barrier lining the Long Island Expressway. I enjoyed the article. The Arroyo Seco parkway does not go past the Hollywood Bowl. I and I intersect in Montgomery. The amount of highway or interstate traffic is significant.
We are a neighborhood in Portsmouth NH hoping to get a long needed sound barrier installed on 95 near the traffic circle. Your barriers sound like a good solution to a problem that has grown in need for over 30 years. I hope your quote is acceptable to the decision makers,, sounds like the absorbsion value is the most important issue.
Your email address will not be published. Site Map Privacy Policy. This article focuses on the following:. I would like to start a petition to have a sound wall built where I live along
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