SOPRANOISE: toward a quick measurement method to verify and monitor the acoustic performance of noise barriers on site

The European standards EN 1793-5 and EN 1793-6 allow measurements of sound absorption/reflection and airborne sound insulation of noise barriers in-situ, an essential activity for approving noise barriers installed alongside roads. However, the EN methods require a careful application by expert users, which may limit their use to few locations. The main objective of the project SOPRANOISE (2019-2022), funded by CEDR, was the development of a new method that should be quickly applicable to a larger part of the installed noise barriers in a more manageable way. This paper presents the main results of SOPRANOISE WP4, dealing with the conception, design, and validation of such simplified quick method. It was necessary to design a completely new equipment, simpler and lighter than the one for full tests, allowing the use by normal operators after a short training. The new quick method was validated in the laboratory and under real on-site conditions, applying both the new quick method and the full EN methods on real noise barriers installed along motorways. The systematic application of the quick method allows to identify the weak points of the noise barrier and the appropriate noise barrier fields to be tested with the full EN methods.