Whisstone, a sound diffractor: does it really affect traffic noise?

Regular paper

Jan Hooghwerff

M+P

Tuesday 2 june, 2015, 14:00 - 14:20

0.2 Berlin (90)

Abstract:
In the Netherlands there is a great demand for noise reducing measures to fulfill the noise legislation and to reduce the annoyance of traffic noise. Silent pavements and noise barriers are well-known, but are there other alternative or additional measures? The company 4Silence developed a sound diffracting element (Whisstone); a concrete element with cavities that is placed alongside the road at the same level as the road surface. The diffracting element deflects tyre-road noise in an upward direction, creating a zone of noise reduction behind the element. It can therefore act as a complement to existing noise-reducing measures and can be optimized for maximum noise reduction. In theory, this acoustic phenomenon can be very effective, but does it work in practice? For a theoretical description and the results of model based research, see the accompanying paper of Y.H. Wijnant. Experiments have been done on different types of Whisstones in combination with several road surface types. In 2012 and 2013 this innovation was constructed at two sites along a secondary road. This paper shows the approach of the measurements and the results. The Whisstone seems to be an interesting innovation which can increase noise reduction up to 4 dB.

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