Acoustic effectiveness of vinyl fence noise walls

Final report; Sponsoring agency: Ohio Department of Transportation, Office of Statewide Planning & Research; Contract or Grant No. 34947; "August 2022."; "PID: 111466."; "Prepared in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration"--Page iii; "Author(s): Kimberly Burton, Ruchi Agarwal, Kevin Buettner, Richard Carr, Don Leonard, Amelia Mansfield, Brett Morris, Elvin Pickney, Mary Sharrett, Samantha Robbins"--Technical report documentation page; "Prepared by: Burton Planning Services (prime consultant) ... CAP-STONE & Associates (subconsultant)"--Page iii; Additional information provided in email: SJN 136141; Includes bibliographical references (Appendix A of Final report)Final report (1155 pages in various pagings) -- Fact sheet (2 pages)There are currently a variety of materials from which noise walls can be constructed, but there has been limited research on vinyl noise walls, so this project studied the acoustic, aesthetic, and cost benefits of vinyl materials to guide future noise mitigation implementation strategies. The research team studied vinyl noise walls to determine if they were effective in mitigating traffic noise. The effectiveness determination was evaluated using the feasibility and reasonableness factors that are a part of ODOT's existing noise program. For feasibility, the vinyl noise walls were evaluated based on how well they performed acoustically; and for reasonableness, the vinyl noise walls were evaluated based on how cost effective and constructable they were. Considering the feasibility and reasonableness factors in addition to aesthetics, the results indicated that vinyl noise walls are an attractive and effective option for mitigating the impacts of traffic noise. In the future, ODOT could consider integrating vinyl noise walls into its noise program in the following ways: integrate vinyl materials into existing programs, create a new vinyl noise wall program, consider a vinyl noise wall alternative on a case-by-case basis, or provide information on vinyl materials to local governments and private communitie