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(dramatic music)

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(traffic swooshing)

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- [Narrator] Managing
noise from load roadways

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can be very challenging especially
when elevated structures

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are part of the equation.

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Less noise improves the quality of life

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for residents and outdoors enthusiasts.

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Thanks to some innovative designs

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which included a unique
lightweight acrylic wall.

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Noise was vastly reduced here on I-30,

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on the west side of downtown Dallas.

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- We're looking at the acrylic barrier

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because of the lightweight properties,

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it's durability,

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it's noise reduction,

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and it's transparency.

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As a test that we could look
at all these elements and see.

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Would this work in practice,

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because TxDOT had never used any material

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like this before.

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- [Narrator] Experts applied
the work they did here

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to another loud roadway, the
President George Bush Turnpike.

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- TxDOT saw the huge success at I-30

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and they were facing similar
problems with noise at 190.

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Of course, the conditions
there are different.

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It is not an elevated structure.

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But the pavement is
continuously reinforced

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concrete pavement as well.

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And based upon the success of the I-30,

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they thought about
creating a similar project.

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- [Narrator] Although
TxDOT does not typically

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perform noise abatement
on existing roadways.

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Which is considered a
type two noise project.

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A study was conducted under
this pilot research project.

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Life cycle costs and
performance of lightweight

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noise barrier materials
along bridge structures.

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The pilot project showed
that an acrylic noise

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barrier design was effective
on existing structures.

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- On 2012 NTTA built these noise
walls which are eight foot.

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The initial modeling had
the noise at 80 decibel.

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- [Manuel] We had to come up with a design

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for something to put on top

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of those existing concrete walls.

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And we came up with the
acrylic barrier design.

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- [Daniel] So it's actually
helped reduced the traffic noise

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for the neighboring properties.

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- [Manuel] We measured the
effectiveness of the wall

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by a test called insertion loss.

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In which you put a noise meter

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behind the wall and a noise
meter next to the traffic.

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Just to measure the
different levels that occur

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on either side of the wall.

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And we found that for 190,

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after the wall was completed
that with the acrylic panels.

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That the noise reduction was
about 12 and a half decibels.

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Before the panels the
difference was 10 decibels.

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So, it was an additional
noise reduction of about

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two and a half decibels.

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- [Daniel] A lot of these homes

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are right along this highway.

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And so there's a lot of traffic noise.

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With this wall, it's helped
to reduce that traffic noise

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for these neighboring properties.

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- The lightweight barriers
just add flexibility

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for TxDOT in the future.

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So now if we do have a bridge structure

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we can actually build a
barrier that's 15 feet tall.

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Whereas we would have
not built it in the past.

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We would have said,

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so sorry, we were not
able to build this barrier

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because of engineering requirements.

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- [Manuel] If you have a structure

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that you want to retrofit
with noise walls.

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An acrylic panel solution could be ideal.

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- [Narrator] For more information,

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and to find the publications
for this project.

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Please visit the TxDOT research library

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at the link shown below.