Building An Effective Noise Barrier Wall

So you have decided you need to build a Noise Barrier. What are the important selection criteror to  building an effective noise barrier wall?

1) Select a noise barrier wall material - What material is available, what is the most economical method of construction and how do you construct the noise barrier wall quickly. Noise Barrier Walls can be build from Earth, Timber Panels, Bricks, Metal Panels, Concrete Slabs, Masonry Hollow Blocks, Plastics Sheets such as Polycarbonate or Acrylic sheets and even Glass or other composite material that has some structural rigidity, weather resistance and do not decay and disintegrate easily in rain, hot and cold weather or freezing snow conditions.

2) Design criterior - The effective height and the length of the noise barrier wall.

Simple rule to a good Noise Barrier Wall -

a) It Should be at least four times (4x) the length of the distance between the noise barrier wall and the affected area.
b) The height of the noise barrier wall however depends on the height of the affected area. For effective noise reduction the noise barrier wall should be higher than the affected area or line of sight.
c) The closer the noise barrier wall to the source of the noise the better the results of its attenuation.


For other advance princples, read this

Listen please, we need a noise barrier wall

I've written many times about my concerns regarding the noise pollution on the LDP with hopes it will be highlighted. Being a mother of tree young children my worries and concerns over the excessive  traffic noise is geuine....read more

Effectiveness of Traffic Noise Barriers

UPM Faculty of Environmental Studies

Research Title: Determination of Effectiveness of Traffic Noise Barrier in Selected Residential Areas of Klang Valley


Funding: MOSTI

Leader: Ramdzani Abdullah

Commencement Date: 2006-12-01

Summary:
The general objective is to determine the effectiveness of different roadside noise barriers in reducing noise pollution to the public.

As Malaysia is rapidly developing towards becoming an industrialised country, demands for dwellings have also increased rapidly. The trends currently in Malaysia is to develop new township in the fringe of big towns or cities. These new townships would be developed complete with the local amenities such as shops, restaurants and schools. The main mode of transportation between the newly developed township and the city is the motor vehicle.

The above developments have been associated with increase in noise emission. The Malaysian Department of Environmental (DOE) has reported ...Read here

Noise Pollution

NOISE POLLUTION
Since noise is unwanted continuous and irritating sound and if this noise is not controlled than it is the source of noise pollution.

WHAT IS NOISE
Noise is unwanted disturbing sound and it is normally loud, continuous and irritating. Long exposure to loud noise will lead to deafness or reduced sensitivity to sound. In our house noise may be caused by drilling, hammering, yelling and screaming, loud music or musical instruments and even household electrical appliance such as ceiling fans, refrigerators, fruit juicers and lighting ssytems. Outside of our house besides the neighbor breaking down a wall or drilling during the renovation, noise may be caused by continuous vehicle passing by our house. Noise pollution is especially bad if our house is situated just along a highway or expressay or a busy road. This type of noise is generated by the engines of passing vehicle and tyre rubbing on the pavement or road surface. In an industrial environment noise are normally caused by engines, motors, compressors, drills, jack hammers, electrical transformers, generators and heavy moving machinery.