Unlocking the Potential of Cost-Effective Alternative for Noise Abatement: A Case study of Existing Short Concrete Barriers in Maryland

The cost, logistics, and timeline of building and deployment of tall noise barriers take a toll on state department of transportation. Adopting a cost benefit analysis, several communities cannot benefit from the construction of tall noise barriers, yet they face significant highway noise. Likewise, tall noise barriers cannot set up everywhere for the sole purpose of noise abatement. However, short concrete barriers which have long been deployed for the purpose of safety potentially offers noise abatement strategies. Maryland state department of transportation recently put effort in understanding the potential of this existing short concrete barriers to mitigate highway noise. The benefits could potentially stretch from cost-saving to reduced timelines of construction, coupled with effective noise abatement. Through purposeful selection, five out of ten potential sites with pre-existing short concrete barriers around Maryland highways were investigated. At-grade and elevated roadways with short concrete barriers were included in the study. Sound level meters were used to measure the sound at different distances from the nearest roadway. Traffic counts and speed were gathered concurrently. The study adopted seven distinct sound propagation models. These models included custom models created for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Traffic Noise Model (TNM) versions 2.5