Analysis of in-situ acoustical performance of a removable urban pavement with a porous top layer

A demonstrator of a new removable urban pavement with functionalized surface was implemented in the inner city of Nantes within the I-STREET CUD-SF project. Designed for easy maintenance operation, it is made of hexagonal cement concrete slabs with a dense body and a 4 cm thick porous top layer of grading 0/6 and porosity 25% for drainability. The noise performance of the pavement was assessed at urban speeds by simultaneous Coast-By and Close-Proximity noise measurements performed with a dedicated test vehicle after closure of the road to traffic. The results are compared with noise levels obtained with three reference surfaces, a DAC 0/10 and two VTAC of grading 0/4 and 0/6. The tested pavement gets ranked differently depending on the noise measurement method considered. The results are analyzed in the light of 3D texture measurements as well as sound absorption measurements performed in situ by the extended surface method and with Kundt's tube on core samples. The influence of texture irregularities at the junction between slabs and sand used for slabs stabilization is addressed. Finally, the Coast-By noise levels are compared with those obtained with the HyRoNE prediction model from 3D texture and sound absorption. The discrepancies observed are discussed.