Delnoise has explained in detail the types of noise barriers & usage. There are different types of noise barriers that can be adopted depending on the situation in order to reduce noise pollution.

What are the different types of noise barriers?

• Absorptive Noise Barrier
• Transparent Noise Barrier
• Metal Noise Barriers
• Timber/Bamboo Noise Barriers
• Concrete/Brick Noise Barriers
• Acoustic Gabion Walls
• Acoustic Earth Bunds

Absorptive Noise Barrier

Delnoise absorptive noise barriers are basically a sandwich of metal and sound absorption material, these panels perform dual purposes by absorbing the sound as well as reflecting it, thus producing a very good noise reduction capability. And this is one of the recent technologies in noise control, which is widely adopted all over the world due to its noise control properties, cost of manufacturing, installation and maintenance. These types are used in transportation, industrial, wildlife and residential areas.

Transparent Noise Barrier

Delnoise Transparent noise barriers are generally made out of polycarbonate/PMMA, these barriers are used whenever a see-through view is required. These barriers work under the principle of reflecting back the noise to the source and are widely used for commercial purposes due to their durability, and easy and low-cost manufacturing and installation aspects.

As a negative effect, these barriers reflect back noise to the source of noise generation and create problems & confusion among the motorist and the opposite side of the barrier.

Metallic Noise Barrier

First of all the metallic barriers are often mistaken for the mono absorptive barriers, but the actual metallic barriers are made out of metal sheets or some absorption material covered by metal sheets. These types of barriers are good in reflection and moderate is absorption. These are widely used for transportation only due to their low cost of manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

As a negative effect, these barriers perform more like a reflective shield, as it absorbs very less soundwave. And reflects back noise to the source of noise generation instead of absorbing them due to the density of the metal material. Thus creating a problem & confusion among the motorist and the opposite side of the barrier.

Timber/Bamboo Noise Barriers

• This type of noise barrier is one of the effective noise reduction devices, which could act as both absorptive and reflective at the same time, these are widely used only in residential and school zones.
• These types of barriers cannot be used for commercial purposes like roadways, railways, industries etc.
• Due to its limitations like cost factor, durability, availability of raw materials and the impact, it causes the environment & ecosystem damaged by deforestation.

Concrete/Brick Noise Barriers

Concrete /brick noise barrier acts as a noise reflective device, but the high cost of construction & raw material, the difficulty of construction and the environmental impact it causes make it unreliable for usage. These are used commercially as well as in residential zones.

Acoustic Gabion Walls

Gabion walls are generally used in the sea to stop erosion and waves but these can also act as a noise barrier by the process of diffusion of the sound waves, which can be effectively used as a sound arrester for the receiver side, but the source side experience more noise than the emission due to process of diffusion or scattering of noise, more over this can be used commercially but the cost of construction is high as well as the risk of accidents, as it uses a metal wire mesh to keep all the stones intact.

Acoustic Earth Bunds

Earth bunts are generally constructed to stop erosion, store water, support water infiltration, etc. However, these are also used as a noise barrier as it absorbs the sound waves due to their density/ thickness, but these are very expensive to construct and cause huge environmental damage.