Analyses and research of needs and possibilities of protection against noise in surrounding of provincial roads in Silesian Voivodship

One of the tasks of provincial road administration authorities is roadmaintenance ensuring that the noise impacts coming from road traffic are restricted to thelimit values. Due to the large volume of traffic, limited availability of space and limitedresources, this task is practically impossible to perform. Nowadays, the primary objectiveof the reconstruction of provincial roads is the road surface improvement. In many places itrequires large financial expenses. For several years, some provincial roads authorities havetaken first attempts to combine the needs of resurfacing with acoustic protection by usingnoise reducing road surfaces. Provincial Roads Authority in Katowice took action in thisarea using existing national and foreign experiences associated with the use of noise reducingsurfaces. These activities focused mainly on the selection of types of road surfaces thatwould be used on the provincial roads of Silesian Voivodship and criteria that indicated theorder in which road sections would be rebuild – systematic pavement replacement is needed. Prioritization of the activities and selection of the road sections planned for the reconstructionor renovation were obtained by taking into account several criteria: the results ofthe noise control plans, condition of the existing pavements, interventions of the inhabitantsand investment plans which included the needs of the development of the road network.The article presents the results of the analysis and research on the usage of noise reducingsurfaces and the selection of priority sections of provincial roads of Silesian Voivodshipplanned to be rebuild. The article present a joint result of the cooperation between Provincial Roads Authorityin Katowice and the Department of Roads and Bridges (Lublin University of Technology).