How much influence does vegetation have on traffic noise, and what does it take for it to effectively reduce noise levels.

Vegetation along roadsides can serve as a natural noise barrier under specific conditions. The vegetation must be a forest-like, broad and very densely grown, belt of vegetation – otherwise the physical noise reduction is close to zero. These examples show the effect of a 50-metre broad belt of forest trees (10 metres high) situated 15 metres away from the roadside.

Instructions

  1. Connect your headset to your computer and ensure that the left and right channels are correctly set.
  2. Press the black boxes (audio playback controls) to start the sound demonstrations.
  3. During playback, you can switch between different audio options to compare noise levels.
  4. Avoid adjusting the volume, as this may interfere with the calibrated settings for your system.

Danish Road Directorate logo
The auralisations are developed in cooperation with the Danish Road Directorate.