Similar to other metropolitans, the major environmental noise problem encountered is excessive road traffic noise in Hong Kong. Due to the past neglect in planning of the city in the past, about 1.1 million of population is estimated to expose to traffic noise levels exceeding the planning criterion of 70dB(A)L10(1hr) in Hong Kong. There is limited scope for retrofitting noise barriers to address the traffic noise problems of existing roads in Hong Kong due to various technical constraints including space requirement and social or aesthetic considerations. Application of low noise road surface would have advantage over barriers on many situations. Porous road surface is currently standard surface material of high speed roads in Hong Kong. To test out the noise reduction and the durability of porous materials on low speed local roads, a trial programme for laying some identified road sections is carried out in Hong Kong. This paper summarizes the experience gained in Hong Kong in respect of the noise reduction achieved and the durability problems for porous material in high speed roads and low speed local roads.
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