Review of utilization of short concrete noise barriers as noise an abatement strategy

The initial construction cost of barriers has led to considerable interest by local Transportation agencies and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to assess alternatives such as short noise barriers. Many agencies have found that the utilization of short concrete safety barriers as a noise mitigation strategy is highly beneficial. However, not much evaluation data is available to satisfy the FHWA noise requirements or to satisfy the Noise Reduction Design Goal (NRDG) (Noise Barrier Acceptance Criteria Analysis Publication No. FHWA-HEP-16-017). This paper presents an extensive review of the utilization of short concrete noise barriers as a noise abatement strategy. The study also reviews the relevant research, methodologies, tools, and technologies that have been used in evaluating the reasonableness and feasibility of this strategy. Various modeling techniques that can realistically model the insertion loss of short concrete noise barrier were also reviewed. A few proprietary short noise barrier systems were also evaluated for their reasonableness and feasibility. The study reveals a state of the practice survey of all DOTs with respect to the adoption and implementation of short noise barrier. The paper ultimately highlights the effectiveness, cost, use and implementation methodology of short solid barriers as an effective noise abatement strategy.