Abstract
PURPOSES : In this study, noise reduction effect of a two-layer porous asphalt pavement was investigated through site measurement and computer simulation. METHODS : To examine noise reduction effect, a 3 km long quiet pavement was installed by removing previous normal pavement, which had a rather low porosity. The studied site was a high-rise apartment building surrounded by the quiet pavement and Seoul ring road with heavy traffic volume, indicating relatively high background noise. RESULTS : The measurement result before and after installing the quiet pavement showed a noise reduction effect of 4.3 dB(A) at a distance of 7.5 m from the road. After validating the accuracy of simulation using SoundPLAN, the reduction in SPL(sound pressure level) at the facades by the quiet pavement was predicted by considering five different road conditions generating traffic noise from each road or in the combination of the quiet pavement and Seoul ring road. In the case of no noise from Seoul ring road, noise reduction at the facades was 4.2 dB(A) on average for 702 housing units. With background noise from Seoul ring road, however, the average SPL decreased to 2.0 dB(A). Regarding subjective response of noise, the number of housing units with a noise reduction of over 3 dB(A) was 229 out of 706 units (approximately 32%). For 77 housing units, the noise reduction was between 1~3 dB(A), while it was less than 1 dB(A) for 400 housing units. CONCLUSIONS : The overall result indicates that the quiet pavement is useful to reduce noise evenly at low and high floors compared to noise barriers, especially in the urban situation where background noise is low.
