Bringing Peace and Quiet to a Neighborhood near You
July 27, 2015 | Associate / Plant News
Sprawling highways and interstate roads stretch across the United States like a complicated network of veins, allowing for the circulation of people and products over millions of square miles. This massive transportation system has helped facilitate an almost unparalleled expansion of commerce.
When it comes to residential living, however, many people think that these roads should be like quiet children: Seen, not heard. The sounds from a busy road can be very disruptive for what was once a quiet neighborhood. The government began to notice this problem in the 1970’s, and now The Federal Highway Administration is involved in making sure that many new projects take steps to curb excess noise. The most effective way to reduce noise is through quality sound-retaining walls. Citizens have found these walls make a huge improvement to their daily lives. After sound barriers were installed near Patrick Murphy’s home in San Rafael, California, he instantly noticed the difference. “It’s a significant change. The white noise that you hear is gone. What’s missing is the ‘shhhhh.” When contractors, builders, and other planners are looking to construct these structures, they want to partner with an experienced company with the capacity to produce custom solutions to meet any need.
In 1980, Smith-Midland pioneered the use of precast concrete highway sound walls in the United States. They have installed millions of feet of noise-dampening barriers in dozens of states and are experts in this industry. If your businesses have been entrusted to complete a multi-million dollar project with tight deadlines, failure is frankly not an option. When the state government or the Federal Highway Administration has determined that a new construction project must use sound-dampening technology, certain considerations must be taken into account.
How quickly can these barriers be put up? Will they require certain aesthetic features to create a more appealing façade? Have these barriers been used effectively in other areas? Smith-Midland’s precast concrete barriers can be incorporated into a jobsite quickly and with relative ease.
Smith-Midland recently completed projects for I-66 near Washington, DC and the Princess Anne road in Virginia Beach. Both of these projects involved custom-designed motifs—and both earned high praise from clients.
Smith-Midland continues to innovate in the area of sound-dampening technology. Very recently they created a material called SoundSoft. This light-weight, absorptive concrete combines special aggregates with cement as a binder in a specific and exacting process. SoftSound surpasses any other combination for durability, acoustics, thermal, strength and mold-ability. America’s growth hasn’t shown any signs of slowing. As our nation continues to develop and change, more and more roads will need to be built. It is a logistical certainty that great many of these roads will be constructed near existing residential neighborhoods and structures. When builders are designing and engineering these systems, they will need sound-retaining walls that are customizable, effective, and easy to install. Smith-Midland is the leader in this space because they continually deliver quality products and services within budget and on time.