Highway noise prediction on route 007

Abstract

T r a f f i c noise i s sound t h a t s e r v e s no u s e f u l purpose. E x c e s s i v e t r a f f ic n o i s e r e s u l t s i n a lower q u a l i t y of l i f e f o r nearby r e s i d e n t s . P r e d i c t i o n of t r a f f i c n o i s e i s t h e r e f o r e important to t h e highway engineer. T h i s document r e p o r t s on t h e f i n d i n g s of a study of t h e a c c u r a c y of t h r ee highway n o i s e p r e d i c t i o n methods, the CMHC/RTAC method, the O n t a r i o method, and a computer package c a l l e d STAMSON. The v a l u e s given by the t h r e e methods a r e compared w i t h sound l e v e l measurements f o r t h e t r a f f i c c o n d i t i o n s on r o u t e 007. Sound l e v e l s were taken i n February, 1991 o v e r e i g h t hours between F e b r u a r y 18 and February 28. A recommendation of the s u i t a b i l i t y of each method f o r New Brunswick c o n d i t i o n s was made , w i t h p a r t i c u l a r emphasis on t h e s u i t a b i l i t y of t h e STAMSON computer package.