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Pavement Effects Implementation Study

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FHWA-HEP-12-034
DOT-VNTSC-FHWA-12-01

January 2012
Final Report

FHWA Traffic Noise Model (TNM) Pavement
Effects Implementation Study: Progress Report 1

PEI Study cover showing pavement noise monitoring devices

Prepared for
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Pavement Technology
Office of Natural Environment
Washington, DC 20590

Prepared by
U.S. Department of Transportation
Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division
Cambridge, MA 02142

Preface

The Volpe Center Acoustics Facility, in support of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), investigated the implementation of pavement effects in the FHWA Traffic Noise Model (TNM).  Three options were considered, resulting in the recommendation of two options: 1) implementation of user-defined pavement-specific emission levels (REMELs), with proof of adequate data; and 2) implementation of on-board sound intensity (OBSI)-adjusted tire/pavement noise source levels, implemented as a large database in the FHWA TNM and also as a user-defined option.  Each option would also include adjusting for the pavement sound absorption by applying pavement-specific effective flow resistivity (EFR) values.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for their vision and support of this study.  The authors also wish to thank several U.S. State highway agencies and other organizations for cooperation in data collection logistics, sharing data, and discussions involving various aspects of this study; this includes: California Department of Transportation, Arizona Department of Transportation, Ohio Department of Transportation, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, The Transtec Group, and Illingworth & Rodkin.  In addition to the authors conducting field measurements, other folks were also involved; the authors wish to thank Mark Ferroni, Adam Alexander, Trevor May, and Gina Barberio.

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Updated: 6/28/2017
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