Whisper grinding is a cost-effective way to reduce noise pollution caused by tire friction on concrete roads. It creates a negative texture with air pockets to absorb sound, reducing noise by 3-5 decibels. It also improves the smoothness of the ride.
Whisper grinding is a process of creating grooves in concrete road surfaces for the purpose of noise reduction. As metropolitan areas continue to struggle with noise pollution, more and more people are looking for cost-effective ways to reduce unnecessary noise as much as possible. Whisper grinding is becoming a popular option for such communities.
In many cases, the noise caused by the friction of tires on the roads can be a constant annoyance that those starting near major highways must learn to manage. The traditional way to deal with highway noise has been to build high walls, usually at least 15 to 20 feet high, as a barrier between those roads and high-density residential areas. However, these walls do not reduce noise; they simply deflect it.
Due to the fact that walls can be very expensive to build and treat the symptoms rather than the cause of the problem, many community planners and traffic engineers have looked for other ways to address the problem. One of those ways that shows great promise is the whisper. Many different states have been studying its effectiveness since the turn of the 21st century.
The main difference between traditional concrete surfaces and those treated with a whisper grind technique is the way the texture of the pavement is manipulated. Traditional concrete has what is known as a positive texture, meaning that the bumps rise from the main surface elevation. Flooring that has undergone whisper grinding has a negative texture.
The negative texture created by the whisper grind creates air pockets between the ridges. This air acts as a cushion, helping to absorb the sounds created by the normal movement of the tires over the surface. When done correctly, whisper rectification can help treat your highway noise problem right at the source, where the rubber meets the road.
A study by the Arizona Department of Transportation found that whisper grind techniques reduce noise by three to five decibels. While this may not seem like a significant improvement, traffic engineers say a three decibel reduction in noise is roughly equivalent to cutting traffic on a highway in half. For example, if a normal highway has 200,000 vehicles traveling on it per day, with whisper grinding, it would be like only 100,000 vehicles using it per day.
In addition to quiet flooring, or at least quieter flooring, whisper sanding can also help in another way. While many may believe that a grooved road surface decreases the smoothness of the ride, the opposite seems to be true. In fact, the Arizona study calls the whisper-grind surfaces the quietest and smoothest ever built in the state.
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