National Cooperative Highway Research Program
(NCHRP) tentatively approved researched designed to “identify innovative methods to avoid transportation noise impacts
or to reduce impacts where traditional noise mitigation methods are not feasible and reasonable.” Potential methods
for study include:
•
solid safety barriers in place of guard rails;
• sound-absorbing ground surface adjacent to the highway;
• vegetated swales or retention
basins;
•
quieter pavements for highways and highway shoulders;
• quieter bridge decks and joints;
• quieter rumble strips;
• retrofitted absorptive or vegetative
sound wall treatments;
• retrofitted lightweight noise wall overhangs;
• bike path and bike path separation zones;
• on-board sound intensity measurements to
identify loud sections for targeted rehabilitation of highways;
• small height berms.
Such methods “could help reduce the overall cost of a project, when
compared to what it would cost if traditional noise mitigation was used, and provide relief to communities where traditional
methods are not applied,” according to NCHRP. “In addition, these methods may increase the effectiveness of traditional
mitigation methodologies when used in conjunction.”
A formal project statement and request for proposals are due later this
year.
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