Masonry Magazine October 1981 Page. 8
The residents of these townhomes in Denver now have their peace and quiet thanks to the new brick baffle walls that deaden the traffic sounds from a nearby highway.
Highway Sound Barrier Wall Construction
Opens New Market for Masonry Industry
A major new market for the masonry industry is developing as a result of the brick and concrete block sound-barrier walls that are being constructed in many areas of the nation to combat highway vehicular noise in residential locations.
Competitive in price with other materials such as pre-cast concrete, metal and wood, these unit masonry baffle walls are not only aesthetically pleasing but provide an effective means of sound abatement in regions where new expressways have recently been built or existing roads widened to accept high-speed traffic.
Denver, Colo. and Flint, Mich. are two areas where such baffle wall construction has been undertaken. One of these projects, in Denver, has been completed, and the other is under way. Both hold bright promise of stimulating similar masonry construction in other locations regionally as well as nationally.
In Denver, as South Yosemite Street was widened from Hampden Avenue through its juncture with Interstate 225 and down to Union Street, traffic noise quickly became a problem for area residents.
The City and County of Denver and the Colorado State Highway Department responded with the erection of brick baffle walls affording privacy, quiet and beauty to the residents of a townhouse development located along Yosemite.
The panels were built off-site of 4-in. x 4-in. x 12-in. reinforceable core brick by Jim Arnott, Inc. Masonry Contractor. Each panel was 8 ft. high by 10 ft. long.
Truck-mounted crane positions the panels into place. Jim Arnott, Inc. of Colorado Springs was the mason contractor.
8 MASONRY/OCTOBER, 1981