Traffic noise reduction due to the porous road surface

Porous road surfaces reduce road traffic noise. A new method of noise reduction assessment is proposed. The noise generated by a few vehicles was measured two times: on an old surface with the dense asphalt and on a new surface with the porous asphalt. Subjective assessments of drive-by noise suggest that the sound exposure and the road surface coefficient can be used as the acoustical characteristics of a road surface. Their average values, with the average number of vehicles passing the receiver during a day or night, makes it possible to predict the equivalent continuous A-weighted sound pressure level for the new road surface. This is the main objective of this paper. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.