SilVia – Sustainable Road Surfaces for Traffic Noise Control

The overall aim of the project was to provide decision-makers with a tool allowing them to rationally plan traffic noise control measures including low-noise road surfaces. That tool, actually the final output from the project, is a “Guidance Manual for the Implementation of Low-Noise Road Surfaces”. It is a compilation of the key research and findings from the entire component Work Packages within the project. The Manual is split into 6 parts. Part 1 summarises the basics about noise in general and vehicle noise and tyre/road noise, in particular, in order to provide the reader with the necessary background to the topic. Part 2 presents an overview of the different low-noise solutions for pavements, including well-established surface types and technologies which are relatively new or under development, some of which have been tested within the SilVia project. It also reviews construction and maintenance techniques used for low-noise surfaces and addresses the possibilities of improving the acoustic performance and durability of low-noise road surfaces. Part 3 first summarises the different measurement methods that are available for the evaluation of the acoustic performance of a road surface, particularly for labelling and conformity-of-production (COP) assessment. The essentia