Evaluation of traffic noise in the state of qatar

Abstract

Mitigating traffic noise is a major concern for transportation departments worldwide. A number of noise mitigation procedures are recognized to control noise emitting from traffic stream. However, noise reduction potential of modified pavement surface type or texture has been identified recently. Various noise measurement methods have been developed to record and quantify the noise generated from traffic. The main focus of this study was to investigate the noise levels of pavements in the State of Qatar that resulted from various types of vehicles. The testing was conducted by wayside noise measurement method as most transportation authorities are using community noise to set the acceptable limit of the noise. In this study, two sound level meters were placed at ISO specified location to measure free-flowing highway traffic noise. The results of statistical pass-by method showed that the heavy trucks produced loudest noise levels followed by bus, medium trucks and automobiles. Test results also indicated that on average, the traffic noise increases linearly with speed of vehicles irrespective of vehicle types or microphone position.