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Has anyone else noticed that some roads and highways throughout the U.S. have pavement that makes a screeching/whistling noise while driving over it? This type of pavement is alawys an extremely faded gray color; almost white. Throughout my travels, I have noiticed that this type of pavement exists primarily in the following locations, from my memory (among others):
I-95 N in northern New Jersey, as you approach the George Washington Bridge in NYC.
Most of I-88 in New York between Binghamton and Albany.
Various highways in the greater NYC area.
Various non-Interstate highways in Florida.
Has anyone else noticed this? What kind of pavement is this? Where else does it exist? Highways don't seem to be built using this type of pavement anymore. Nowadays they use the standard black asphalt, which is extremely quiet to drive on.
It is cheaper and quicker to resurface highways with asphalt, which is why they do it.
On the West Coast, new freeways are made from concrete, often topped with a vinyl topcoat. I don't know if noise is a factor for using a vinyl mix or not.
Some resurfaced highways are using recycled tires in the asphalt. I can't remember where, but a few years ago I drove onto one of these sections of resurfaced highways in the Bay Area and immediately noticed the road noise diminished to a fraction of what it was. A little way up the road a sign mentioned the asphalt used recycled tires and the noise reduction was to reduce noise in the neighbourhoods next to the freeway.
Light colored pavement is usualy concrete unless it is asphalt with dye in it or some added better wear material.
And the whistling noise you hear is probably little grooves made across the pavement to help drain water from the road surface to help prevent hydro planing in wet weather.
There was a show on TV where they made grooves in the road that played a tune when driven over at speed.
The closer the grooves, the higher the pitch, spaced farther apart, the lower the pitch.
There is a road in my area that home owners were complaning about the whisting noise so the state changed the groves from going across the surface to running length wise with the surface.
Not as affective for water control and vehicles want to follow the length way groves which make cars have a tendancy to sway back and forth. It is really an adventure on a motorcycle. I know.
I guess you're thinking of concrete roads then. It's always made sort of a ta-duh, ta-duh, ta-duh sound when I drive over it, but I could see where you get whistling.
It's fairly common down here in Florida. I'm indifferent when it comes to a choice between it and asphalt.
Has anyone else noticed that some roads and highways throughout the U.S. have pavement that makes a screeching/whistling noise while driving over it? This type of pavement is alawys an extremely faded gray color; almost white. Throughout my travels, I have noiticed that this type of pavement exists primarily in the following locations, from my memory (among others):
I-95 N in northern New Jersey, as you approach the George Washington Bridge in NYC.
Most of I-88 in New York between Binghamton and Albany.
Various highways in the greater NYC area.
Various non-Interstate highways in Florida.
Has anyone else noticed this? What kind of pavement is this? Where else does it exist? Highways don't seem to be built using this type of pavement anymore. Nowadays they use the standard black asphalt, which is extremely quiet to drive on.
What you are describing is the sound of tires rolling over concrete that has been grooved to reduce hydroplaning. The white pavement is actually concrete. Because concrete isn't porous, unlike asphalt, a film of water can form when it rains, which can be dangerous. To combat this problem, as the concrete is curing, they will run a rake across the pavement to create shallow striations in the pavement that allow water to flow through them. These grooves are usually 3/16 inch deep, 3/16 inch deep wide, and spaced evenly a half inch or three quarters inch apart.
When your tires roll over these grooves, a pure tone is generated, which sounds like a mid to high-pitched whistle. If the grooves are a half inch apart and the tires are going 1,000 inches per second (57 mph), you'll hear a whistling sound with a frequency of 2,000 hertz...because your tires will be striking 2,000 grooves per second.
The pure tone produced when tires roll over pavement with even-spaced grooves can be annoying to people living near the road. To prevent this pure tone whistle from forming, the guys who groove the pavement will randomly-space the grooves, which breaks up the frequency at which the tire tread strikes the grooves.
It should be noted that this kind of pavement is still used in 2011. However, most states now use a random pattern for the grooves put into concrete roads, so the whistling sound doesn't happen on them...usually.
Sometimes the sound produced by tires rolling over grooved pavement can sound very weird, almost synthesized. Sometimes they will randomize the groove pattern incorrectly, and when your tires go over them, it sounds like a violin...low-pitch and twangy.
Your other questions,
"What pavement is this?": Though the answer is "concrete", or Portland Cement-Concrete (PCC), it is not the pavement that's responsible for the sound. It is merely the grooves cut into the pavement that are responsible. Asphalt is porous, so it need not be grooved. If it were, then it would make the same sound as grooved concrete when your tires rolled over them.
"Where else does it exist?": In every state, especially on bridges. And, again, the pavement is still used in new construction projects. They didn't stop using it.
I guess you're thinking of concrete roads then. It's always made sort of a ta-duh, ta-duh, ta-duh sound when I drive over it, but I could see where you get whistling
That's a different noise; it comes from where the concrete has been poured in sections and the sections have moved/tilted relative to each other.
I live in the Norfolk, VA and we have a lot of grooved concrete pavement here. Mostly on I-64 in Newport News from Jefferson Ave to the I-664 interchange, from I-64 at the Twin Bridges to I-464, some parts of the 164 Western Freeway. Also 664 in Chesapeake and Suffolk used to be grooved but it got bumpy and paved 2 years ago since it was original in 1992. Also most of I-295 around Richmond is grooved too! Love the sound at 75mph!
Last edited by pvande55; 12-22-2014 at 07:51 PM..
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What you are describing is the sound of tires rolling over concrete that has been grooved to reduce hydroplaning. The white pavement is actually concrete. Because concrete isn't porous, unlike asphalt, a film of water can form when it rains, which can be dangerous. To combat this problem, as the concrete is curing, they will run a rake across the pavement to create shallow striations in the pavement that allow water to flow through them. These grooves are usually 3/16 inch deep, 3/16 inch deep wide, and spaced evenly a half inch or three quarters inch apart.
