The Use of Glass Panels in Noise Barriers

Bernhard Weller & Thomas Schadow, Technische Universität Dresden
Florian Döbbel, Glas Statik Konstruktion GmbH

The primary function of noise barriers is to shield from excessive noise generated by road traffic. Glass could be used for the construction of transparent noise barriers. Transparent noise barriers al-low light to areas which would otherwise be placed in the shadow. Furthermore, they allow road users to orientate themselves by providing views of the surrounding area.

Noise barriers under typical roadside conditions are exposed to stone-impact similar to the stone-impact on windscreen of automotives. The noise barriers must not have bigger damages by stone-impact. Standard DIN EN 1794:2003 fixes general safety requirements, environmental requirements and the laboratory test method. The proof of resistance against stone-impact and of postbreakage be-haviour will be furnished by a mechanical testing hammer, the so-called “Schmidt Hammer”.

At present, two alternatives are used for glass panels in noise barriers. These are single glass sheets of tempered glass or laminated glass sheets made of heat strengthened glass. The Institute of Build-ing Construction is carrying out test series on new types of noise panels of laminated glass sheets made of float glass. The paper shows the results of these test series.

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The Authors

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weller Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Building Construction Bernhard Weller is Professor of Civil Engineering at the Technische Universitaet Dresden and Director of the Institute of Building Construction. He has expertise in design, testing and use of glass. T... Read more