Cost evaluation of noise barriers implementation in the Greek highway network

Abstract

Transportation side effects like, noise, accidents and air pollution and others are a cost that arises from an economic transaction and that falls on people who do not participate in the transaction. Among those side effects, noise has become such a decisive factor in modern life recently. In this paper, the noise barriers used for reducing traffic noise are being examined in means of performance and construction cost. First a noise prediction is made in the Athens Ring Motorway under certain traffic conditions in order to determine the noise barrier requirements and the results are confirmed by 24hr measurements. According to the noise prediction equations and the relevant laws and indices used in Greece, the effects of heavy vehicle ratio, average traffic flow speed and hourly total vehicle quantity change on noise level and barrier requirement are examined, so assessment can be made for a highway having different traffic conditions. In this paper, the working principle of noise barriers and effects of barrier position and height on reducing noise are researched in order to determine the construction costs of barriers at different heights and with the use of different materials. By incorporating the noise cost, represented by the noise barrier cost, a revised Benefit Cost analysis can be obtained for the project. This paper proposes the method of how to incorporate noise element into the existing Benefit Cost analysis. It also includes the usage of, noise level prediction and calculation methods - softwares and how to obtain the optimal design of noise barrier. If successfully conducted, the analysis framework set forth can be further explored and the results may create a useful handbook - framework for designing and evaluating noise barriers to better address the environmental aspects of transportation.