National Academies Press: OpenBook
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24704.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

2017 N A T I O N A L C O O P E R A T I V E H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 842 Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis Paul R. Donavan and Carrie J. Janello IllIngworth & rodkIn, Inc. Petaluma, CA Subscriber Categories Design  •  Environment  •  Highways Research sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research is the most effective way to solve many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation results in increasingly complex problems of wide inter- est to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. Recognizing this need, the leadership of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in 1962 ini- tiated an objective national highway research program using modern scientific techniques—the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). NCHRP is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of AASHTO and receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was requested by AASHTO to administer the research program because of TRB’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. TRB is uniquely suited for this purpose for many reasons: TRB maintains an extensive com- mittee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; TRB possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, univer- sities, and industry; TRB’s relationship to the Academies is an insurance of objectivity; and TRB maintains a full-time staff of specialists in high- way transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators and other staff of the highway and transporta- tion departments and by committees of AASHTO. Topics of the highest merit are selected by the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research (SCOR), and each year SCOR’s recommendations are proposed to the AASHTO Board of Directors and the Academies. Research projects to address these topics are defined by NCHRP, and qualified research agencies are selected from submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the Acad- emies and TRB. The needs for highway research are many, and NCHRP can make significant contributions to solving highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement, rather than to substitute for or duplicate, other highway research programs. Published research reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet by going to http://www.national-academies.org and then searching for TRB Printed in the United States of America NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 842 Project 25-45 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 978-0-309-44618-1 Library of Congress Control Number 2017931040 © 2017 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FRA, FTA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, PHMSA, or TDC endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The research report was reviewed by the technical panel and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and the sponsors of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report.

The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, non- governmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president. The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president. The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine. Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.national-academies.org. The Transportation Research Board is one of seven major programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to increase the benefits that transportation contributes to society by providing leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied committees, task forces, and panels annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. Learn more about the Transportation Research Board at www.TRB.org.

C O O P E R A T I V E R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M S AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was performed under NCHRP Project 25-45 by Illingworth & Rodkin, Inc. (I&R). Dr. Paul R. Donavan, Principal Consultant at I&R was the Principal Investigator. Contributing authors to this report were Dr. Donavan and Carrie J. Janello of I&R. Information on measurement site locations and pavement types was provided by Bruce Rymer, Caltrans Division of Environmental Analysis, and Gregory Smith, Human Environment Unit, North Carolina Department of Transportation. Additional technical assistance with the beamforming technology was pro- vided by Tony Frazer, Brüel & Kjær. CRP STAFF FOR NCHRP RESEARCH REPORT 842 Christopher J. Hedges, Director, Cooperative Research Programs Lori L. Sundstrom, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs Lawrence D. Goldstein, Senior Program Officer Anthony P. Avery, Program Associate Eileen P. Delaney, Director of Publications Hilary Freer, Senior Editor NCHRP PROJECT 25-45 PANEL Field of Transportation Planning—Area of Impact Analysis Larry J. Magnoni, Amesbury, MA (Chair) Bruce C. Rymer, California DOT, Sacramento, CA Noel A. Alcala, Ohio DOT, Columbus, OH Mariano Berrios, Florida DOT, Tallahassee, FL Chris Blaney, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Downsview, ON Winfield M. Lindeman, Palm Harbor, FL Kenneth D. Polcak, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore, MD Gregory A. Smith, Raleigh, NC Mark A. Ferroni, FHWA Liaison

NCHRP Research Report 842 deals with two primary objectives: (1) determining height distributions and spectral content for heavy vehicle noise sources and (2) establishing and beginning development of an extended heavy vehicle (truck and bus) noise source data- base for incorporation into traffic noise models, including future versions of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Transportation Noise Model (TNM) acoustical code. To accomplish these objectives, the researchers collected data by sampling commonly used heavy vehicles representing the current national fleet across the country. The research used data collection and analysis methods reflecting the current state of technology in acoustic beamforming. Heavy vehicles (trucks and buses) are significant contributors to overall traffic noise levels; noise from one heavy truck is equivalent to noise from about 10 passenger cars. Therefore, a thorough understanding of how heavy vehicles emit noise is crucial to predict- ing and mitigating traffic noise. In addition, noise from heavy vehicles comes from various sources (e.g., exhaust stacks, muffler shells, exhaust pipes, drivetrains, air intakes, cooling fans, tires, and aerodynamic characteristics). The relative contributions of these sources vary with vehicle type, operating conditions, and (for tire noise) the type of pavement. Understanding how these components contribute is important to being able to forecast heavy vehicle contribution to overall traffic noise. As part of the analysis, noise wall heights were determined through modeling, dependent on the distribution of noise source heights. Because truck and bus exhaust stacks are often the tallest noise sources, highway noise walls are typically designed so the top of the exhaust stack is obscured from the receiver sight. If, however, the top of the exhaust stack is not the major noise source, then shorter height noise walls could be built to achieve the same acous- tical objective. Noise generation characteristics documented by this research will contribute to future design on traffic noise attenuation. In this research, the acoustical beamforming method was used to determine height dis- tributions and spectral content for heavy truck noise sources. To support these measure- ments, (1) on-board sound intensity (OBSI) was measured to quantify tire/pavement noise and (2) statistical isolated pass-by measurements were made for comparison with existing databases. Phase I testing, conducted in December 2013, included measurements from four relatively flat sites in Northern California, where heavy trucks traveled under moderate vehicle speeds. Sixteen additional sites in North Carolina were tested in September 2014 as part of Phase II. These sites had varying pavement grades, faster/slower posted speed limits, and varying operating conditions. The source mapping results from both phases were used to develop noise-versus-height profiles. The profiles were not significantly dependent on F O R E W O R D By Lawrence D. Goldstein Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

site and operating conditions. Profiles were averaged and used to develop simpler source distributions that could be implemented in traffic noise modeling. These were compared with those used in TNM, and the barrier insertion loss was determined for both distribu- tions. The researchers concluded that the predominant noise source was tire/pavement noise, with engine/powertrain being the secondary source; elevated sources occurred rarely and were equal to or greater than tire/pavement for only 0.5% of the total 1,289 trucks mea- sured. The data collected and methods applied will contribute significantly to improving TNM capabilities for future noise forecasting. The appendices to the Contractor’s Final Report are available on the TRB website and can be found by searching on NCHRP Web-Only Document 225.

1  Summary 3 Chapter 1  Background 3 Problem Statement and Objectives 3 Previous Research 5 Scope of the Research 7 Chapter 2  Research Approach 7 Description of Measurements and Measurement Systems 7 Acoustic Beamforming Measurements 12 On-Board Sound Intensity Measurements 13 Statistical Isolated Pass-By Measurements 14 Equipment Installation and Measurement Integration 15 Description of Measurement Sites 17 Chapter 3  Findings and Applications 17 Summary of OBSI Results 17 Summary of Statistically Isolated Pass-By Results 18 SIP Measurement Results 20 Comparison With the REMELs Database 22 Noise Source Mapping 22 Evaluation of Typical Noise Contours 28 Analysis of Overall A-Weighted Profiles 46 Test Site Summary 49 Comparison to Previous Research 50 Analysis of One-Third Octave Band Profiles 58 Source Height Distribution Analysis 58 Point Source Height Distributions 60 Models Using Two Point Sources 64 Models Using More Than Two Point Sources 65 REMELs and TNM Source Height Distributions 68 Source Distributions and Barrier Performance 72 Medium Truck Results 72 Discussion of Overall A-Weighted Profiles 73 Test Site Summary 74 Discussion of Average One-Third Octave Band Profiles 75 Comparison to REMELs Database C O N T E N T S

78 Chapter 4  Conclusions and Suggested Research 78 Conclusions 79 Suggested Research 79 Heavy Truck Source Distribution Reconciliation 80 Lower Speed Heavy Truck Database Expansion 80 Medium Truck Source Mapping 81  References 83  Appendices

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TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 842: Mapping Heavy Vehicle Noise Source Heights for Highway Noise Analysis provides an analysis to determine height distributions and spectral content for heavy vehicle noise sources. The report also explores establishing and beginning the development of an extended heavy vehicle (truck and bus) noise source database for incorporation into traffic noise models, including future versions of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Transportation Noise Model (TNM) acoustical code.

Accompanying the report is Web-Only Document 225: Appendices to NCHRP Research Report 842.

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