Accelerated Testing of Noise Performance of Pavements

Noise properties of road pavements change over time due to wear from traffic, impact of weather conditions, etc.With the introduction of noise reducing pavements in many countries, it has become increasingly important to understand how the noise properties of pavements change as they get older. The Danish Road Directorate and the University of California Pavement Research Centre have investigated the feasibility of using test results from HeavyVehicle Simulator (HVS) test sections to predict the development of the noise properties of pavements. Pavement surface textures were measured at regular intervals with a three-dimensional scanner on a range of different HVS test sections on various projects. The Dutch Acoustical Optimization Tool (AOT), developed to predict the noise properties of road pavements based on texture data, and pavement type, was used for the analyses of the measured texture profiles.