Traffic noise reduction - which type of fence?

[b3taman]

An update for those of you who have been following this - the fencing contractors have advised that a heavyweight close boarded fence will have some effect, but an 'acoustic barrier' (built to specifications detailed in Clause 2504 of the 1998 standard specifications for Highway Works) is the serious answer. This is the type built alongside motorways etc, and should give a 20dB reduction (apparently)
Guide costs - heavyweight close boarded 2.4m high - £77/m inc VAT
Acoustic barrier 2.4m high - £96/m inc VAT
I was guessing up to £100/m, so wasn't far out. Whether it will achieve the desired result is another matter!
What do you think? Will I be posting here in 6 months moaning about wasted money, or will I be a happy bunny?
Thanks for your contributions.

 

[lasors]

I think if you are expecting it to be suddenly silent, you will be disappointed with either product. If you go for the cheaper option you'll always wonder how much better it might have been with the proper acoustic stuff. If you go for the acoustic stuff you'll be getting the best possible results without spending truly silly money. If that's still not good enough, tough!

Or, research cheaper homemade alternatives to supplement the fencing. Adding foam?

 

[geraldthehamster]

An update for those of you who have been following this - the fencing contractors have advised that a heavyweight close boarded fence will have some effect, but an 'acoustic barrier' (built to specifications detailed in Clause 2504 of the 1998 standard specifications for Highway Works) is the serious answer. This is the type built alongside motorways etc, and should give a 20dB reduction (apparently)
Guide costs - heavyweight close boarded 2.4m high - £77/m inc VAT
Acoustic barrier 2.4m high - £96/m inc VAT
I was guessing up to £100/m, so wasn't far out. Whether it will achieve the desired result is another matter!
What do you think? Will I be posting here in 6 months moaning about wasted money, or will I be a happy bunny?
Thanks for your contributions.

I was looking at your diagram again, and wondering what was to the right of your property. If it's open space, I wonder if it's also worth fencing to the right of your drive.

The acoustic barrier has to be worth a try, if you're prepared to spend the money on it. Alternatively, is there a bridge anywhere nearby on the road, that you could blow up? That would stop the traffic

Cheers
Richard

 

[rjm2k]

you could try

But seriously, I don't know if it would work in your situation or how much it costs but have you looked at anti noise generators at all?

Had to laugh on "love your garden" the other day, they installed what looked like floorboards horizontally to make a "soundproof" fence. looked bloody awful and there was so much other open space with houses ready to reflect noise that it would never ever work.

 

[b3taman]

Thanks for your comments guys.
The price difference between the heavy close boarded and the full-on acoustic is not great, so I would certainly choose the acoustic if I go ahead with this.
Richard, there is another house to the right, and a public footpath, so I'd be pretty sure to have potential planning problems there. I expect the fence as I showed on the drawing would actually have a 90 degree turn at the right hand end to join onto the house to make more of a 'seal'
rjm2k - re anti noise generators - the problem isn't THAT bad! - it's just a great plot and location which is rather spoilt by noise at the moment. The site has been in the family since 1946 and there are no plans to move on so anything which can help with this is good.
If I go ahead with this I will endeavour to report back here in 6 months time and let you know how things have turned out.
Best wishes and thanks again for your help.

 

[jenksrej]

Hi Richard (my name is Richard as well) I feel for you we bought a lovely cottage on a single track lane then the Tiny Ridding Club and Hotel up the lane expanded in the space of a year we ended up hating the place. The silence then sudden noise when a car races past is worse than anything I have know it ends up invading your whole live. After two years of it we sold out and moved on, some people don't mind noise from traffic and could live on the side of a motorway but I can stand it. If you hate it now you will hate it more in a years time sell up and move on,,,,,,

 

[maa55]

I have read all posted on this subject and I am unable to find anyone who has a good word for traffic noise reducing fencing. I wondered if b3taman had an update on his project. I have a busy & extremely noisy road that passes the bottom of my garden. (wasn't like this when we bought the place. The opposite side of the road is open fields therefore you might think the noise would disperse over the fields but it doesn't. There are light woods and a 6' wooden fence between the road and garden. Noise appears to bounce back off of the bungalow into the garden. Doesn't bother the wife but I dislike it intensly.

 

[b3taman]

I see this topic is still generating interest, so here's an update.
The 2.4m high fencing was erected to spec in November and as shown on the diagrams previously posted. The contractors made a decent job of it. There was 80m of fencing plus some double gates and it came to a bit over £8K inc VAT. I expect with the current shortages of fencing materials in the UK it would cost quite a bit more now.
Early impressions are that noise reduction in the higher frequencies has been fairly minimal, but there is some improvement in lower frequencies. So tyre noise, which is really the main problem with modern car traffic, has not changed much, but HGV noise does seem to be moderated somewhat. Was it worth the money? Well, we're planning to own the property for a good while, so maybe the expense can be justified.
I also still think that a double row of Cupressus allowed to grow to 4m high planted inside the fence would help a lot, but there are maintenance issues/costs (ie the essential annual trimming by contractors once it is established) that have to be considered.
So if you're expecting to turn your noisy garden into an oasis of calm with this approach you will be disappointed. And this was with a top spec serious fence!
Thanks for everyone's input and advice on this matter, and I hope this update helps others.

 

[maa55]

I see this topic is still generating interest, so here's an update.
The 2.4m high fencing was erected to spec in November and as shown on the diagrams previously posted. The contractors made a decent job of it. There was 80m of fencing plus some double gates and it came to a bit over £8K inc VAT. I expect with the current shortages of fencing materials in the UK it would cost quite a bit more now.
Early impressions are that noise reduction in the higher frequencies has been fairly minimal, but there is some improvement in lower frequencies. So tyre noise, which is really the main problem with modern car traffic, has not changed much, but HGV noise does seem to be moderated somewhat. Was it worth the money? Well, we're planning to own the property for a good while, so maybe the expense can be justified.
I also still think that a double row of Cupressus allowed to grow to 4m high planted inside the fence would help a lot, but there are maintenance issues/costs (ie the essential annual trimming by contractors once it is established) that have to be considered.
So if you're expecting to turn your noisy garden into an oasis of calm with this approach you will be disappointed. And this was with a top spec serious fence!
Thanks for everyone's input and advice on this matter, and I hope this update helps others.

 

[Phillines]

I've just discovered this thread and have a similar problem. May I ask what the advice from your fencing contractor was and if you have found any effective solution?

 

[Phillines]

Sorry, just seen the rest of the thread and my questions have been answered. Thanks

 

[mazdaq]

Interesting stuff. Thanks to b3taman for the updates. We're about to buy a house that has a light woodland in the garden and then a train line behind it. Problem is worsened because the station is right next door so it's not a matter of the train just passing by in a few seconds - those that stop at the station rev their engine when they leave the station and obviously make a fair old noise.

I think (hope) we will get used to it but I am definitely going to look into putting an acoustic fence up.

One problem is the train line is up on a bank above the rear of the garden - am I right in thinking that any fence would need to be high enough so it is actually in line with the train? I assume if the top of a fence sat below the track level, the sound waves would just travel over the top of the fence and the fence would be totally ineffective?

I can see me spending a fortune on this and not making any difference at all!!

If anyone else has any experience with acoustic fences, I'd be very interested to hear views.

Thanks.

 

[Deluks]

Mazdaq, don't bother, you'll get used to the train noise, after a while your brain will block it out.
If you want peace & quiet, move out of London!

 

[brianj42]

Tapping onto the back of this one as its relevant and the OP seems to have found a "kind of" solution.

We live next to a quarry, and when I say next to, I can pee over our back fence into the quarry.

To say its noisy is an understatement as it sounds like the crusher is in our back garden, which is not far from it as its only 40 mtrs line of sight.

The local Environment officer has tested and proved they are 15Db over their limits but the enforcement officer has decided, against all British and acoustic standards, that our garden is not part of our property and cannot be included in sound tests for noise. (Oh to be a public servant)

So, the quarry have offered to put up a 3 mtr high "standard" closeboard fence. Not thick timber, or including acoustic rubber, but a simple closeboard fence.

Does anyone think this will work or are they just pacifying me. Personally I think it will be as much use as a Chinese power tool.

 

[EggsBenedict]

Based on this thread, I'd look up the available literature on acoustic fencing and take that to them. I'd say that a non-acoustic fence is going to do feck all based on what people have contributed here.

Be interested to know what the dB limit is, bearing in mind how the dB scale works: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question124.htm . 15dB can be a massive difference,

I suppose if the env people have made their decision, the quarry aren't really forced to do anything. I would not accept the quarry's offer, and let them know that you'll challenge the env people's basis for assuming your garden isn't your property - that sounds plain wrong to me. Put all this stuff in writing.