Surface Aging Effect on Tire/Pavement Noise Medium-Term Evolution in a Medium-Size City

This paper presents the geo-referenced acoustical results obtained throughout the close proximity noise (CPX) technique carried out on different urban sections included within the 2017 strategic noise mapping (Directive 2002/49/CE) in Ciudad Real, a Spanish medium-sized city. The employed methodology quantifies the tire/pavement noise generated in the contact between the tire and the surface of the studied sections. Measurements were carried out in different research campaigns between 2008 and 2015 (medium-term evolution). They give valuable information about the pavement-aging effect on its surface characteristics. Throughout these years, the acoustic situation of these sections has worsened mainly due to surface damage and higher mean profile depth (MPD) values, although the performance does not follow the same pattern in every section. The relationships between measured tire/pavement noise and theoretical environmental noise, just due to the geometric spreading of sound energy, is also studied in order to elaborate a simple rolling noise mapping and to assess the environmental noise evolution. Traffic noise plays the main role in the noise registered within the assessed sections, therefore, CPX assessment could be used by local authorities to take decisions regarding urban planning and traffic management, with the aim of reducing noise exposure from traffic.