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Project name: Noise protection highway barrier in Blok 28
Project Type: Noise Control, Measurements
Location & year: Belgrade, Serbia 2019
The A1 highway that passes through Belgrade is one of the busiest road sections in Serbia. The recorded high traffic density causes the emission of concerning levels of noise pollution that heavily impact the residential buildings within the city block surrounding the highway, especially impacting those with high population density primarily located in New Belgrade. This issue is quite alarming in Block 28, where due to the disposition of buildings and their proximity to the highway the residents of this area are quite heavily affected by traffic noise throughout the entire day.
Due to this, an action was proposed with the aim to mitigate the alarming levels of noise pollution, that resulted in the project for a noise protection wall. The position and materialization of the wall were determined not only by the disposition of the existing infrastructure but also in a manner that would esthetically best suit the specific context and ambiance of the surrounding area. The supporting structure of the cca. 358,70m long and cca. 10m high wall is made from reinforced concrete, with acoustic panels made from expanded clay and transparent acrylic sections meant to reduce the visual impact of heavy construction without affecting its acoustic performance. In order to further improve its noise protective attributes a 30o slanted transparent segment facing the highway is planned as an integral part of the structure, carried by a steel construction anchored to the reinforced concrete columns. The noise protection wall is projected to have an impact of lowering the current average noise levels by up to 18dB on the façade of the most heavily impacted building, lowering them to, as by state regulation determined, acceptable levels for residential areas. To provide accuracy to the traffic noise data, in situ measurements were conducted and official data on the annual average daily traffic data were both taken into account.