The Road Traffic Noise Attributes of Some Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Surfaces in Australia

This paper presents the conduct and outcomes of a series of investigations aimed primarily at determining the noise attributes of several rigid and flexible pavement surfaces currently in service in Australia. The investigations, which included both Portland Cement Concretes and Asphaltic Concretes, have been conducted over the last five years in the Australian State of Queensland. Analyses of the data collected during the investigations produced values of a parameter known as the Statistical Passby Index which was applied to quantifying the acoustic performance of the pavement surfaces. The paper presents these results and discuses the differences in the acoustic attributes of the Portland Cement Concretes and the Asphaltic Concretes which were typical of those in service throughout Australia. In further exploring these outcomes the data were applied to the complex and difficult process of accurately predicting the traffic noise impacts from a major, eight lane road facility. This particular roadway is paved with sections of both Portland Cement Concretes and Asphaltic Concretes. Good results were obtained from this process primarily because the acoustical attributes of the pavement surfaces had been accurately specified from the outcomes of the investigations mentioned above.