Ilene Busch-Vishniac
Steve Ho
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
Ron Peron
Michael McNerney
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX
Until recently, Texas has managed to avoid extensive use of highway noise barriers for roadway noise mitigation in residential areas. In recognition of the growing noise problem, particularly in the urban areas of Texas, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is supporting a 3-year project aimed at producing a highway barrier design guide. In addition to acoustical performance, the design guide will consider issues such as barrier support and aesthetics. This talk will review the barrier project, concentrating on the first phase of the work which has been to document and evaluate the existing barriers in Texas. [Work supported by TxDOT.]