“The perfect apparatus, it seems to me, is the highway. In it maximum circulation coincides with maximum control. Nothing moves that isn’t both incontestably “free” and strictly classified, identified, individuated in exhaustive files of digitized registrations. A network endowed with its own fueling stations, its own police, its autonomous, neutral, empty, and abstract spaces, the highway system perfectly represents the territory, as if laid out in bands over the land, a heterotopia, the cybernetic heterotopia.”
“Control is not discipline. You do not confine people with a highway. But by making highways, you multiply the means of control. I am not saying this is the only aim of highways, but people can travel infinitely and “freely” without being confined while being perfectly controlled. That is our future.”
Tiqqun, Aphelis 2001
——————————————————————————————————————————
Roadway noise, causes:
Speed Traffic operations noise is affected significantly by vehicle speeds, since sound energy roughly doubles for each increment of ten miles an hour in vehicle velocity; an exception to this rule occurs at very low speeds where braking and acceleration noise dominate over aerodynamic noise.
Vehicles Trucks contribute a disproportionate amount of noise not only because of their large engines, but also the height of the diesel stack and the aerodynamic drag. Significant interior noise is usually present inside moving motor vehicles; in fact, passengers are generally not aware that these levels are high, because experience has led motorists to expect levels commonly exceeding 65 dBA.
Surfaces Roadway surface types contribute to different noise levels. Of the common types of surfaces in modern cities, there is a 4 dB difference between the loudest and the softest: chip seal type and grooved roads being the loudest, and concrete surfaces without spacers being the quietest, and asphaltic surfaces being about average. Rubberized asphalt (which uses recycled old tires) is much quieter and is already widely used. Experimental Porous Elastic Road Surfaces (PERS) might cut road noise in half. PERS is made by adding ground up tires to asphalt paving material. Studies have shown that cutting longitudinal grooves in the pavement reduces noise.
Tires Tire types can cause 10 dB(A) variations in noise, based on a 2001 sample of 100 commercially available tires. As of 2001, there was no correlation between grip and noise. Quieter tires may have slightly lower rolling resistance. Tire labeling for noise, grip, and rolling resistance has been widely introduced in Europe, with noisy tires being taxed.
Geometry Roadway geometrics and surrounding terrain are interrelated, since the propagation of sound is sensitive to the overall geometry and must consider diffraction (bending of sound waves around obstacles), reflection, ground wave attenuation, spreading loss and refraction. A simple discussion indicates that sound will be diminished when the path of sound is blocked by terrain, or will be enhanced if the roadway is elevated so as to broadcast; however, the complexities of variable interaction are so great, that there are many exceptions to this simple argument.
Wind Micrometeorology is significant in that sound waves can be refracted by wind gradients or thermoclines, effectively dismissing the effect of some noise barriers or terrain intervention.
Obstacles Geometry of area structures is an important input, since the presence of buildings or walls can block sound under certain circumstances, but reflective properties can augment sound energy at other locations.
I’m a rollin’ stone, all alone and lost For a life of sin, I have paid the cost When I pass by, all the people say Just another guy on the lost highway
Just a deck of cards, and a jug of wine And a woman’s lies makes a life like mine Oh, the day we met, I went astray I started rolling down that lost highway
I was just a lad, nearly 22 Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you And now I’m lost, too late to pray Lord, I take a cost, oh the lost highway
Now boys don’t start to ramblin’ round On this road of sin, are you sorrow-bound? Take my advice or you’ll curse the day You started rollin’ down that lost highway
