Road noise management tool: Mapping action areas classified by acoustical and non-acoustical priority criteria

This paper shows the solution designed by LABEIN-Tecnalia and proposed to the Road Construction Department of the Provincial Government of Bizkaia (Road Manager Administration), in order to facilitate the acoustical classification of priority action areas and to select the later corrective measures that would be implemented. This solution has been defined within the framework of the Noise Action Plan, and it aims to improve noise quality management of transport infrastructures network. This proposal allows the exploitation of the Strategic Noise Maps by means of a Management System PLCR (Plan de Lucha Contra el Ruido), owned by the Road Manager Administration. The output of the work is a Map containing Action Areas using as in-put information: a) the results derived from the Road's Strategic Noise Maps (daily average intensity > 16.000 veh/day); and b) the data included into the Geographic Information System "Plan de Lucha Contra el Ruido" (area, population and buildings: residential, educational/schools and hospitals exposed to noise). To determine the optimal corrective measure to each particular situation, a top-down approach has been applied, based on acoustical and non-acoustical criteria.