This paper deals with a Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW funded study into the noise generated by a passenger vehicle travelling under controlled conditions. The study investigated 20 pavement surfaces that represented a wide range of construction materials, techniques and surface textures adopted in NSW including deteriorated asphalt overlays. A range of purportedly low noise asphalts was found to return the lowest overall noise levels followed by a series of cement concrete pavements that had minimal surface texture. Both dense graded and stone mastic asphalts, along with exposed aggregate concretes were found to perform better than randomly transverse tyned concrete pavements. Uniformly tyned concrete pavements, poor condition asphalt overlays and those which generate acoustic energy in discrete frequency bands were found to be amongst the loudest pavements. The average surface texture depths of the concrete pavements were examined and were found to vary greatly even over short distances. Comparisons were also made with the noise produced by 75 overseas pavements where construction specifications ranged from similar to vastly different to current Australian specification requirements. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. 0612AR242E.
Samenvatting