Barriers for noise mitigation: Pilot projects in Istanbul

Abstract

Traffic noise has been a major concern in Istanbul with increasing population and number of vehicles. There is a requirement for Turkey to harmonize with EU noise regulations. Therefore, currently, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is producing action plans for reducing transportation noise. Three pilot projects have been completed in Istanbul in order to evaluate the efficiency of noise barriers in reducing noise levels. Two of the projects were developed for light rail line and one for an arterial road in Istanbul. For each project, different heights and shapes as well as materials for the noise barriers were evaluated. The noise maps were developed using SoundPlan 7.3. A noise barrier design was proposed considering construction costs, acoustic efficiency, environmental compatibility, easiness of implementation, foundation installation, maintenance, and dismantling, and duration of construction work. © 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.