Evaluation of Noise Performance of Multi-Lane Highways in the State of Qatar

Abstract

In recent years, a growing number of people are complaining to transportation authorities for the traffic noise as a result of increased traffic volume on the highways. Therefore, transportation authorities are actively pursuing ways to reduce the traffic noise. In recent years, quieter pavement has become one of the cost-effective ways of sustainable highway noise reduction. However, for design and construction of quieter pavements, proper and accurate noise measurement is of paramount importance for evaluating the noise level of existing pavement as well as evaluating noise level of newly constructed pavements. In this study, the variation of noise level among different lanes of existing multi-lane highways in the State of Qatar was examined. Tire-pavement noise was measured by using onboard sound intensity (OBSI) technique. OBSI test results showed that highest noise level was observed at outer lane of multilane highways. This is probably due to the pavement distress caused by the heavy vehicle travelling at the outer lane of multi-lane highways.