Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls -Purpose, Advantages and Design Considerations

Highway sound barrier walls works as a sound energy absorber before sound reaches the receiver. Purpose, advantages and design of sound barrier masonry walls is discussed.

Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls

Following points are discussed regarding highway sound barrier masonry walls:
  • What is a highway sound barrier wall?
  • What is transmission loss?
  • What is insertion loss?
  • Purpose of highway sound barrier masonry walls
  • Advantages of highway sound barrier masonry walls
  • Design considerations of highway sound barrier masonry walls
Sound Barrier Masonry Wall
Fig.1: Sound Barrier Masonry Wall
Highway Sound Barrier Wall
Fig.2: Highway Sound Barrier Wall

What is a Highway Sound Barrier Wall?

It is a wall that works as a sound energy absorber before sound reaches the receiver. So, the mission of the sound barrier wall will not be completed unless it absorbs required amount of acoustic energy.
The acoustic energy transmission though sound barrier wall depends on several parameters, such as material density and stiffness used the construction of the wall, the angle of sending sound energy, and the range of sound frequency.

What is Transmission Loss in Sound Barrier Wall?

Transmission loss is a term used to describe the ability of materials to transmit noise and it is associated with the ratio of sound energy at its source to the transmitted sound energy.
Transmission Loss in Sound Barrier Wall
Fig.3: Transmission Loss in Sound Barrier Wall
Considering highway noise and other noises in highway noise range, the transmission loss of sound barrier materials increases as the weight of material barrier surface is increased.
Table-1 provides transmission loss for different types of materials barrier for different thickness of barriers, and masonry transmission loss can be compared with other types of materials.
Table-1: Transmission Loss for Different Type of Material Barrier
Transmission Loss for Different Type of Material Barrier

What is insertion loss in Sound Barrier Wall?

Insertion loss is a measure of sound barrier effectiveness and it is the difference between the sound prior to the barrier placement next to the highway and after the barrier is constructed close to the highway.
The insertion loss consists of five components which are provided by NCMA TEK and the components include:
  • Barrier attenuation because of sound wave diffraction around and over a barrier fixed in the line of sight plane between the receiver and the source of the sound.
  • Transmission loss of sound through the barrier
  • Decrease in barrier attenuation due to number of reflections as a consequent of double barrier.
  • Attenuation protection through from other barriers between receiver and the source of the sound.
  • Excess attenuation loss already received from soft ground cover.

Purpose of Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls

The prime reason that motivates highway sound barrier masonry wall construction is the decrease of dangers that occupants in the large cities are exposed to. The source of the noise is usually vehicle traffic with great speed and large volume that cross urban areas.
To decrease the level of the noise, the provision of noise abatement treatment in terms of acceptable noise diffraction and transmission loss will be required.
Federal aid highway program manual suggests various noise abatement strategies which involves procedure for managing traffics, changing vertical and horizontal alignment, obtaining property right for the placement sound reduction equipment or building sound abatement, and finally noise reduction construction of device placement disregard of outside or within highway right of way.
Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls

Advantages of Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls

Concrete masonry is the most broadly utilized material that is used for construction sound barrier walls.
The concrete masonry has various desirable characteristics and properties for instance flexibility in the design, excellent durability, good structural capacity, and both construction and service life maintenance cost are considerably small.
Concrete masonry is available in various shapes, color, and surface texture. This is exceptional and incomparable aesthetic characteristic of the concrete masonry, that is very hard to find materials with similar features, and because sound barrier wall is a major component of highway that is why concrete masonry can play a considerably significant role in improving the aesthetic appearance of the highway.
Apart from all beneficial characteristics mentioned above, the most superior and advantageous property of concrete masonry is the huge ability to absorb sounds. Comparatively, sound barrier concrete masonry is most successful and better in decreasing noises than other materials.
Insertion loss is a term used to describe the effectiveness of sound barrier wall and it is the difference between the level of the sound before and after the wall is constructed close to the highway.

Design Considerations of Highway Sound Barrier Masonry Walls

The design of highway masonry sound barrier is carry out like pier and panel walls or cantilever wall. Not only does the pier and panel wall is more economical due to decreased wall thickness and continuous foundation is not needed also it is simpler to construct compared with cantilever wall.
The designed panel is extended between piers. The lateral load computation for both cantilever and pier and panel wall is the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

40+ Construction Tools List with Images for Building Construction

Image
Construction tools list for building construction works such as concrete, brick masonry, leveling, wood works, floor works, slab works, brick laying, plastering etc. is provided. Every construction tool is necessary to achieve good results in the whole project. Along with these tools, the workers should also use some safety tools to prevent them from the unexpected accidents. Construction Tools List for Building Construction Some important construction tools and their uses are listed below: Bolster Boning rod Brick hammer Bump cutter/screed Chisel Circular saw Concrete mixer Cordless drill Crowbar Digging bar End frames Float Gloves Hand saw Helmet Hoe Iron pan Jack plane Ladder Line and pins Mason’s square Measuring box Measuring tape Measuring wheel Pick axe Plumb bob Plumb rule Polishers Putty knife Rammer Rubber Boots Safety glasses Safety helmet Sand screen machine Scratchers Sledge hammer Spade Spirit level Straight edge brushes Til
Read more

Building Materials properties and their Importance in Construction

Image
Building materials or construction materials are the major requirement in this modern age of technology. There are many types of building materials used for different construction works. Properties of Building Materials For a material to be considered as building material, it should have required engineering properties suitable for construction works. These properties of building materials are responsible for its quality and capacity and helps to decide applications of these material. Such properties of building materials are categorized as follows. Physical properties Mechanical properties Chemical properties Electrical properties Magnetic properties Thermal properties Physical Properties of Building Materials These are the properties required to estimate the quality and condition of the material without any external force. The physical properties of engineering materials are as follows. Bulk density Porosity Durability Density Density index Specific gravity
Read more

How to Prevent Errors During Setting Out Building Plan on Ground?

Image
Setting out building plan on ground is one of the most significant steps in building constructions and any errors at this stage would cause considerable problems, if it is not tackled immediately. Errors During Setting Out Building Plan on Ground There are different types of errors that might be made when a structure is set out for example gross errors, systematic errors and random errors. These errors should be prevented and there are some measures to tackle these issues. These measures will be discussed in the following sections. Fig.1: Setting Out of Building Plan on Ground Fig.2: Setting Out Building Plan on Ground How to Prevent Errors During Setting Out of Building? Following are the different types of control that should be carried out to prevent any errors during setting out building plan on ground: Good practice in office On site control Equipment and staff Checks Marking the ground Use of grid offset Good Practice in Office To successfully set
Read more

Factors Affecting Selection of Foundation for Buildings?

Image
Factors which affect selection of foundation for a building can be many from the soil conditions to the type of structure and loads from the building. All the factors are considered during selection of foundation for durable building construction. Factors Affecting Selection of Foundation Following are the factors which affect the selection of suitable foundations for building construction: Loads from building Type of soil Type of structures in neighborhood Type of foundations 1. Loads from Building The first factor considered is loads from building on the foundation. This load is a combination of dead load and imposed loads on the buildings. Other loads such as wind loads, earthquake loads, snow loads etc. are also considered based on location. The quantity of loads depends on the type of structure, number of floors and material of construction. As the number of floors increases, the dead load and imposed loads also increase. Choice of material for construction su
Read more

Ceiling types used in Building Construction and their Applications

Image
Various types of ceiling are used in building construction. Applications, aesthetics, advantages and disadvantages of these types of ceilings are discussed in this article. The ceiling of a building form one of the most important structural elements it terms of functionality as well as creativity which in turn bring good aesthetics to the building interior. This document would help you understand ceilings that in turn would help you understand the most suitable options while undertaking either repair or renovation work of our building interior. The ceiling gains a definition, ” A part of a building which encloses and is exposed overhead in a room, protected shaft or circulation space.” It helps us to create an enclosure and separation between spaces. They provide perfect lighting in the room by controlling diffusion of light. It also controls the sound around a room by making the room sound proof. It, therefore, stops the passage of sound between the rooms. Now ceiling also po
Read more

HOW TO DETERMINE DEPTH OF FOUNDATION

Image
Many factors affects the determination of depth of foundation. Calculation for foundation depth is done based on type of soil, ground water table, loads from structure, bearing capacity of soil and other factors. General factors to be considered for determining depth of foundation are: 1. Load applied from structure to the foundation 2. Bearing capacity of soil 3. Depth of water level below the ground surface 4. Types of soil and depth of layers in case of layered soil 5. Depth of adjacent foundation The minimum depth of foundation should be considered to ensure that the soil is having the required safe bearing capacity as assumed in the design. However, it is advised to carry out soil investigation before deciding on depth of foundation. Soil investigation report will suggest the foundation depth based on the type of structure, soil properties, depth of water table, and all other variable that should be considered. Soil investigation report provides bearing capacity of
Read more

WHAT IS VOLUME BATCHING OF CONCRETE AND HOW IT IS DONE IN FIELD?

Image
WHAT IS VOLUME BATCHING OF CONCRETE? Batching of concrete means measuring different ingredients of concrete (i.e. cement, sand, coarse aggregate and water) before mixing it. When this measurement is done on the basis of volume, we call it  Volume Batching . Below are mentioned some of important points to remember before adopting volume batching method in field. Volume batching is not a good method for measuring concrete materials. It is not applicable in case of reinforced concrete structure. This method of concrete batching may not be economical. It can be only used for unimportant concrete or for small concrete works. HOW VOLUME BATCHING IS DONE IN FIELD? Before batching concrete ingredients in terms of volume, we need to know two things. What is the relative proportion of concrete ingredients in terms of volume? What is the water-cement ratio? After knowing these two things you can proceed to batch concrete ingredients in field. The table shown below can be
Read more

Construction Project Management Softwares

Image
Construction PM Software A new wave of web and cloud apps are streamlining communication, simplifying document management, and improving efficiency in construction management.  Here are some of top construction management tools: Smartsheet Smartsheet  is a spreadsheet-inspired work management tool with robust collaboration and communication features. With pre-built construction templates, it’s easy to create a timeline, track progress, manage documents, and organize the details. Gantt charts are automatically created and auto-adjust every time a change is made, so you can share the most up-to-date timeline with team members or stakeholders. You can upload files from your computer, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Evernote, or add a web URL, creating a central repository for all project documentation and contracts. Team members can have discussions directly in the sheet and set reminders and alerts, so everyone is on the same page. And lastly, Smartsheet integrates with ot
Read more

Methods of underpinning, Procedure and Applications in Foundation Strengthening

Image
Underpinning is a method for repair and strengthening of building foundations. Underpinning methods, procedures and their applications in strengthening of different types of foundations is discussed in this article. There are situations where a failure in foundation or footing happens unexpectedly after the completion of whole structure (both sub and superstructure). Under such emergency situation, a remedial method has to be suggested to regain the structural stability. The  method of underpinning  help to strengthen the foundation of an existing building or any other infrastructure. These involve installation of permanent or temporary support to an already held foundation so that additional depth and bearing capacity is achieved. Selection of Underpinning Methods Underpinning methods are selected based on age of structure and types of works involved. Structure categories based on its age: Ancient Structures :Age greater than 150 years Recent Structures : Age between 5
Read more

Methods for Calculating Cost of Engineering Consultant Services

Image
here are several methods by which calculation of engineering consultant services cost can be carried out in construction. It is possible to employ various charging approach at different phase of the consultant services. The application of each method or combination of methods is dependent on nature, scope and complexity of the required engineering services. In this article, these charging consulting services are discussed. Following are the topics discussed for calculating cost of engineering services or consulting services in construction: What are the factors that affect the engineering service cost? Methods for charging engineering services What are the Factors that affect the Engineering Service Cost in Construction? There are various factors that control the cost of engineering services required for a specific project. These factors are outlined below: The conditions at project site. Degree of danger that may be encountered and exposure possibility. System of pr
Read more