Acoustic assessment of a Cold-In place Recycled pavement; dynamic stiffness field assessment

Traffic noise is one of the main environmental problems in urban areas. The use of low-noise surfaces is probably the best option against noise in these areas, reducing the noise generation in the interaction between the tire and the pavement. On the other hand, the Cold-In place Recycled bituminous mixtures (CIR) are considered as environmentally friendly bituminous mixtures due to their construction temperature (ambient temperature) and the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement. This paper presents the acoustic assessment of an experimental section with a CIR pavement used as wearing course. The field auscultation of the tire/pavement sound levels by means of the Close ProXimity method (geo-referenced measurements) allows us to define the tire/pavement noise levels produced in this type of pavements, as well as their homogeneity. Besides Close ProXimity measurements, the dynamic stiffness has been also studied on the experimental CIR section in order to know the driving-point response of the studied surface. On the other hand, dynamic stiffness has been also evaluated at different points of the CIR surface (simultaneously), by means of several accelerometers, in order to measure the in-situ transfer function of dynamic stiffness in these pavements.