Effectiveness of traffic noise barrier and resident's attitude and perception in reducing noise pollution at selected residential areas in Klang Valley

INTRODUCTION In recent years, road traffic has rapidly increased, mainly in towns and even more in large conurbations. Thus representing, without any doubt, one of the most widespread source of noise nuisance. As a matter of fact, reduction in noise exposure may be effectively achieved by the erection of an acoustic barrier which prevents traffic noise reaching the community which resides near the busy freeways. Moreover, effective noise barriers can reduce noise levels by 10-15 decibels within finite regions. More specifically, insertion loss is the most realistic measure to evaluate the effectiveness of noise barriers Insertion loss is defined as the difference in sound level at a receiver location with and without the presence of a noise barrier, assuming no change in the sound level of the source. OBJECTIVES The basic objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of roadside noise barriers in reducing noise pollution to the public.