Noise from various types of heavy trucks and the influence from low-height solid safety barriers

Types of heavy trucks and their characteristics vary greatly, yet noise from these vehicles is often represented by a single heavy truck category for the purpose of predicting highway traffic noise. This paper presents a case study examining heavy truck pass-by events and their associated measured maximum broadband and 1/3-octave band noise levels, sorting the trucks by various attributes to determine if there are meaningful differentiations. The study further examines the measured heavy truck noise in the presence of a roadside solid safety barrier, installed to shield motorists from natural or man-made obstacles, and can also provide some noise reduction to nearby communities. Results with and without the shielding from solid safety barriers are presented.