A Methodology for the Definition of the Acoustic Capacity of a Road Infrastructure

Marino Lupi, Chiara Pratelli and Alessandro Farina
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Marino Lupi: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Chiara Pratelli: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Alessandro Farina: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-28

Abstract: In this paper, a new methodology for the assessment of the so-called “acoustic capacity” of a road infrastructure is proposed. This aspect is very important in the field of transportation planning as, currently, road infrastructures are verified only in terms of physical capacity; at most, the environmental capacity due to atmospheric pollutants is taken into account, while the acoustic capacity is completely neglected. The acoustic capacity is assessed based on the Harmonoise model, which is widely recognized at the European level. The Harmonoise model, starting from traffic data, such as traffic flows, average speed, and typologies of vehicles, provides the levels of noise emissions and immissions, which can be compared to the noise limit levels established by law. The validity of the proposed methodology was assessed on a test network. The results of this analysis show that, generally, the acoustic capacity is actually a capacity constraint, which involves several traffic flows: this occurs in particular in the case of an intersection, but also in the case of a bi-directional road. Furthermore, the acoustic capacity of a road infrastructure is generally lower than its physical capacity.

Keywords: road acoustic capacity; road traffic noise; Harmonoise model; road infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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