Highway Noise Abatement Measures: 1994 Survey of Practice (1994-4)

The potential environmental impact of noise pollution from highway facilities has become a difficult problem to solve for the TxDOT planners and design engineers. Noise mitigation for projects can greatly increase their costs and public opposition. Additional right-of-way acquisition in urban areas is often cost prohibitive which limits design alternatives. Highway noise walls are a design solution that fits most transportation agency needs.|The research is focused upon a survey of practice sent to all state transportation agencies, Puerto Rico, and Ontario, Canada to determine their success and failures with noise abatement design issues such as policy, material selection, maintenance, aesthetics, acoustics, community participation and construction. Examples from transportation agencies and literature will show noise abatement projects in the United States, Canada and Europe. A list of available noise abatement systems and computer software for analysis and design are included in this report.