Traffic noise from streets with paving stones

摘要

As part of the EU Silence project measurements were carried out with the purpose to rank traffic noise from streets with different types of paving stones and to test a new type of stones. One type was small, rough granite stones (10 × 10 cm~2), three types were large, smooth stones (10 - 15) × (19 - 23) cm~2, and one type was cement concrete flagstones (10 × 30 cm~2). The surface of the newly designed paving stones was perfectly plane, but textured by chiseling small indentations. The width of the joints varied, as did the angle between the driving direction and the direction of the joints. Noise measurements according to the SPB-method (ISO 11819-1) were for cars at 40 km/h 5 - 10 dB lower at the cement concrete blocks and at the new plane paving stones, than at the other pavements. Noise levels were greatest when the joints were perpendicular to the driving direction. Noise spectra showed that the low frequencies were increased except for the cement concrete blocks and the new plane stones, compared to typical spectra for dense asphalt concrete. Levels at high frequencies (> 1.6 kHz) were lower except for the large, smooth paving stones.