Tyre/road noise reduction by a poroelastic road surface

Low noise road surfaces of existing types may in favourable cases and in new conditions provide up to 7 dB of noise reduction. For higher noise reductions, innovative solutions must be sought. Poroelastic road surfaces (PERS) may be such a solution, which currently is studied in the EU project PERSUADE. This paper presents results of trials with a PERS version prefabricated by one of the project partners. Tests were made in a laboratory at TUG, where different tyres were tested on drums covered with PERS, and later field tests were made on a local street in Sweden where VTI had constructed a 25 m long trial section. The field tests were made with a CPX trailer from TUG. Both laboratory and field results showed that tyre/road noise reductions of 9-11 dB were achieved compared to a dense asphalt concrete pavement with maximum aggregate size 11 mm. This is the best result so far in the project. At the same time, this PERS, despite being relatively soft, reduces rolling resistance of passenger car tyres to record-low values, which is important for reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. It is concluded that this type of prefabricated poroelastic road surface offers a very efficient way of reducing tyre/road noise, provided current durability problems can be solved