United States Department of Transportation
[PDF-4.39 MB]
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Abstract:Pavement surface texture plays important roles in roadway safety and noise issues. More than 32,000 deaths and 2.3 million injuries occurred in more than 6 million vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2014 (NHTSA 2016) and about 16 percent of those crashes took place on wet pavement (FHWA 2016). The two main causes of wet weather crashes are: 1) hydroplaning (loss of contact between tires and the pavement surface due to a film of water) and 2) poor visibility due to splash and spray. Inadequate friction also contributes to many dry-weather accidents, particularly in work zone and intersections where braking and unusual vehicle movements are common. There are many sources of sound in the highway environment, including vehicle sounds (e.g., engine and exhaust noise, etc.), sound due to the passage of air around the and through the vehicle, and the interaction of vehicle tires and the pavement surface. Tire-pavement interaction is generally the predominant source of sound for cars and trucks at vehicle speeds greater than 20 mi/h (32 km/h) and 30 mi/h (48 km/h), respectively. When other factors are held constant, traffic noise levels vary mainly with the characteristics of the pavement surface, e.g., the porosity and texture (ACPA 2006). The selection, design and construction of concrete pavement surface texture requires the consideration of both noise and safety concerns, as well as durability and cost – often competing factors! This Tech Brief complements FHWA Technical Advisory T 5040.36 (FHWA 2005) by: 1) providing additional details concerning how pavement texture affects roadway noise and safety; 2) describing current concrete pavement surface texturing methods and their impacts on roadway noise and safety; and 3) providing guidance concerning best practices for concrete pavement texture selection, specification and construction.
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