Masonry Magazine October 1981 Page. 9
Bricklayers Bob Splaney (left) and Dick Wagner lay up part of the brick sound barrier along Interstate 475 in Michigan. The noise abatement project, first of its type in the state, is expected to be completed in November, 1981.
The brick panels were constructed off-site and then trucked to their intended location.
Roger Fritz, project manager for Arnott, said that the baffle walls have been well received by residents and may become a prototype solution for protection and enhancement of other residential areas threatened by heavy traffic.
Michigan's Program In Progress
Michigan travelers will soon be seeing the attractive brick sound barriers now being constructed along a 1.1-mile stretch of the new Buick Freeway, Interstate 475, in Flint. The brick design was developed as a result of the Masonry Institute of Michigan working with a Citizens' Advisory Committee in Flint which wanted to avoid the "long, sterile appearance" commonly associated with expressway sound walls. As designed by the Michigan Department of Transportation, these walls will provide an earth-tone barrier of 16-in. x 20-in. piers supporting brick walls at 12-ft. intervals. The average wall height is 10 ft. The sound barriers will meet federal highway administration noise levels of 70 decibels maximum for residential areas. (Sixty decibels of sound represents noise from normal conversation.) In cost, the brick walls appear to be competitive with other sound-barrier materials. According to Michigan Transportation Department figures, the 1.1-mile section in brick will cost $654,000, well under the department's original estimate of $702,000. "Another important consideration in selecting the masonry system was the increased job opportunities it pro-continued on page 11
This brick sound barrier is now under construction along a 1.1-mile section of the Buick Freeway, Interstate 475, in Flint. Working with a Flint Citizens' Advisory Committee, the Masonry Institute of Michigan helped to develop the brick design. Jones & Simpson, Inc. (MCAA), Flint, is the mason contractor.
MASONRY/OCTOBER, 1981 9