Propagation Characteristics and Effects of Road Traffic Noise

This study was performed to investigate propagation characteristics and effects of road traffic noise generated from vehicles. Noise levels of expressway and general road were measured at four points in a straight line based on distance from the road, and analyzed. The average noise level of expressway was 78.9 dBA at 5 m, 76.4 dBA at 10 m, 72.0 dBA at 20 m, 69.0 dBA at 30 m. That of general road was lower about $3.1{\sim}3.5\;dBA$ than that of expressway. There was no significant difference in distance attenuation between expressway noise and general road noise. The farer the distance from source is, the more the attenuation is. The influence range of noise is assessed by noise environmental standards or road noise limits. Noise levels of the time zone were measured at a boundary line of apartment to grasp noise variation by time. The time zone of lowest noises was $3{\sim}4$ a.m. and that of highest noise was $8{\sim}10$ a.m. Data recorded on tapes were analyzed to understand the characteristics of frequency because these characteristics are important factors to plan the noise reduction measures, namely path measures.