A fundamental study about noise reduction methods to replace a noise cover installed at lower part of viaduct

Abstract

In a few railway sections where no noise reduction is obtained by a noise barrier on the upper part of a viaduct, a noise cover concealing a lower part of a viaduct is used to reduce bridge noise generated while a train passes by. Countermeasures for the noise propagation related to civil engineering structures are rarely proposed except for a noise cover which completely covers the bottom of the viaduct. In this study, scale-model tests to replace the noise cover are conducted as fundamental research. Other than the noise cover, a girder side-hanging noise barrier, an inverted triangle noise barrier installed at a lower part of a viaduct as such, are tested. From the results, the inverted triangle noise barrier showed almost the same noise reduction. Validation tests showed that proposed methods have potential for replacing a noise cover.