Low Noise Poroelastic Road Pavements Based on Bituminous Binder

Tire/road noise is the dominant source of traffic noise. It depends both on the tire design and on the characteristics of road pavements as well as on the vehicles' operating conditions. Due to the fact that conventional (pneumatic) car tires have almost reached the limits of their ability to further reduce their noisiness, it is widely believed that the additional reduction of tire noise will be possible mainly through modifications imposed to road pavements. Road surfaces that contain more than 20% of rubber aggregate and maintain an open (porous) structure are called Poroelastic Road Surfaces (PERS) and are usually made on the base of a polyurethane binder. These pavements exhibit a very positive effect on tire/road noise (up to 12 dB reduction compared to the SMA surface). Unfortunately, their durability is much worse than conventional pavements. Gdansk University of Technology is implementing a project in which the polyurethane binder has been replaced with modified bitumen. The paper presents the first results obtained during the tests of these surfaces in terms of noise and fire risk.