The "hum" of a concrete highway surface

[epzik8]

Anyone else love the "hum" that's produced when driving over a concrete bridge or a concrete highway surface? My favorite concrete surface is I-97 north of Exit 7 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. I also like the concrete on the northbound lanes of the U.S. 15 Gettysburg Bypass. I don't know how many other countries have a concrete-surfaced highway, but there are quite a few here in the USA and I think I recall a couple from my Atlantic Canada trip a few years ago. Anyway, who else is in love with that "concrete hum"? Or if you like asphalt better, you can say that too.

[myosh_tino]

Depends on the "hum".

If it's a high-pitched whine, then my answer is NO.  I've heard this on I-15 headed into Las Vegas and on I-5 in Oregon and it drives me nuts when I drive over it. Argh! 

[Jardine]

My Equinox came with some tires that are either silent or whining loud enough to drown out the radio depending on the surface.

After I got it I went back to the dealer thinking there was something wrong with the drive train.

The much vaunted and pricey Pioneer sound system doesn't compete with the racket very well.  Really about the only thing I hate about it is the tire noise, I was kinda hoping like the shitty Goodyear Eagles that came with my godforsaken Mustang back in the 80s they would wear out quickly and I could replace them with some 'normal' tires.  My open cab ATV with knobby off road tires makes less noise on asphalt/pavement than the damn Equinox.  Surprising tires like those made it to the public and weren't aborted during the R/D phase.

[Buffaboy]

I've always enjoyed it, but I don't know how it occurs. Some bridges in my area are being replaced by concrete bridges that lack the "hum" and have more of a "rolling" or scraping sound if you know what I mean.

[vdeane]

It comes from the grooves in the pavement; modern concrete often has the grooves set to minimize noise.

[Darkchylde]

I like it, especially when I can get it to work with the music. The concrete on I-12 in Baton Rouge used to make a nice backdrop for "Children of the Sandstorm" when I'd drive it at about 65 in my grandmother's Accent.

[peterj920]

The concrete gets "teethed" in order for vehicles to maintain grip on a concrete surface with the small grooves placed in the concrete.  If the concrete isn't treated this way on high speed roads, the surface would become very slippery when wet.  In Wisconsin, the grooves are now placed vertically on main freeways to minimize the noise.  In the Milwaukee, WI Area, asphalt is used just to minimize the noise instead of concrete.  When the Silver Spring Dr interchange at I-43 was reconstructed, the concrete was resurfaced within a couple years because of noise complaints, despite having a smooth surface. 

[mariethefoxy]

DE 1 has a very loud concrete hum to it

I-99 in the State College area has it too

the US 30 freeway in Lancaster has it as well

NY 27 has a very unique hum in the area past the Oakdale squeeze to Patchogue

I dont recall any examples in New England, they dont use concrete surfaces much up there.

I do remember Pennsylvania having a lot of concrete roads tho.

[1995hoo]

I prefer whatever is quietest. That can be asphalt or concrete, depending on conditions.

[7/8]

The 407 (Ontario) is mostly concrete and the one I'm most familiar with. I don't mind short trips on concrete (going over a concrete bridge deck can be fun), but travelling on long stretches of it can get annoying.

One question I would like to ask is why in the US bridges tend to be concrete, whereas in Canada (or at least Ontario), bridges tend to be asphalt surface? For example, the satellite image below is of the 407 crossing the Credit River between Mavis Rd and Mississauga Rd.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6324138,-79.7459282,1143m/data=!3m1!1e3

[cpzilliacus]

I prefer whatever is quietest. That can be asphalt or concrete, depending on conditions.

You might not like the National Park Service-maintained Colonial Parkway between Jamestown, under Williamsburg and to Yorktown in that case.  It seems that the surface of the parkway was deliberately made rather rough "feeling" and "sounding," with lots of large pebbles in the wearing surface of the concrete pavement.

GSV example here near the Yorktown end at U.S. 17.

[cpzilliacus]

The 407 (Ontario) is mostly concrete and the one I'm most familiar with. I don't mind short trips on concrete (going over a concrete bridge deck can be fun), but travelling on long stretches of it can get annoying.

One question I would like to ask is why in the US bridges tend to be concrete, whereas in Canada (or at least Ontario), bridges tend to be asphalt surface? For example, the satellite image below is of the 407 crossing the Credit River between Mavis Rd and Mississauga Rd.

In my state of Maryland, bridges built during the first 10 to 15 years of the Interstate system tended to have asphalt surface decks, much like Highway 407.  But bridge decks built (or re-built) since the 1970's are nearly always "bare" concrete for reasons not clear to me.

[colinstu]

There was a song that had a high-pitched whine sound that reminded me of driving on concrete.

Edited it out and tried to filter out the other parts of the audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_d4GPweqgU

Original song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w_xDDKEK5I the tone starts at around 0:32, and gets higher in pitch.

[1995hoo]

I prefer whatever is quietest. That can be asphalt or concrete, depending on conditions.

You might not like the National Park Service-maintained Colonial Parkway between Jamestown, under Williamsburg and to Yorktown in that case.  It seems that the surface of the parkway was deliberately made rather rough "feeling" and "sounding," with lots of large pebbles in the wearing surface of the concrete pavement.

GSV example here near the Yorktown end at U.S. 17.

I remember that road quite well from visiting my brother when he was attending William & Mary. We used it regularly to go to a cheap golf course located east of Williamsburg (back then, $10 all-you-could-play daily rate!). That surface never bothered me much because it came in small doses. If I had to drive on that sort of thing for a long trip, I'd go nuts.

[Michael]

When I saw this thread, I remembered posting in another thread about the sound of grooved concrete, and after some searching, I found it.  Here's my post from that thread:

After being around this forum for a while, I found out that I wasn't the only one that liked the sound of concrete pavement.  I even have a friend who admitted to liking it when I asked after they commented on the noise while going over a bridge.  I did some digging to find an old post I made about concrete pavement:

But I LOVE the ka-thump ka-thump noise!  Could we get them to stop?  Putting in the rebars defeats the point of having a concrete road (the cool sounds) in the first place!

You'll like this video then.  I like the whistling noise, myself.

When I was reading US-43|72's post (reply #8 on the first page) about different pavement types, I did some Googling, and found this page from WSDOT about pavement types.

The video I linked to is a northbound drive on the I-81 viaduct in Syracuse, and is a typical sound for NYSDOT bridges.  Between 12 and 16 seconds, the pitch is higher than normal.  The WSDOT page covers various pavement types (asphalt and concrete) and has photos of them.

During the 2009-2011 Thruway reconstruction between Exits 39 and 40, they used concrete pavement with longitudinal tining.  I was hoping for transverse tining so it would whistle.  The longitudinal tining has a growling sound, which can be heard in these two YouTube videos:

(skip to 51 seconds in to hear it without music)

When I went on a road trip to Atlanta in January, I noticed that concrete pavement was fairly common from Virginia south, and much of it had transverse tining.  Some of it was old enough to have tire tracks with worn off tining.

Some railroad crossings with metal plates have a whistling sound.  Here's a Street View image of one east of Auburn on NY 5.

Lastly, while going to Binghamton with a friend one time, I knew he was speeding because the whistle of the bridges was higher pitched than normal.  When that same friend calls me from his car, I can sometimes figure out where he is based on the length of the whistling sound if I know where he's going.

I've always enjoyed it, but I don't know how it occurs. Some bridges in my area are being replaced by concrete bridges that lack the "hum" and have more of a "rolling" or scraping sound if you know what I mean.

My best guess would be the tire forcing air into the groove, then forcing out the sides below the tire.  I think I know what sound you're referring to, but I couldn't find a video of it.  Do the new bridge decks have longitudinal tining like this?  It seems to be the new NYSDOT standard for new and re-decked bridges.

I went on what's now I-86 east of Corning for the first time in 1998 or so.  I was so excited that there was a section where the whole road whistled instead of just the bridge decks.  When I was on the same section on the way to Atlanta in January 2015 (same trip mentioned in my post I quoted above), I was disappointed that the road didn't whistle anymore.  It was surprisingly loud even without tining.

When I was visiting my friend who now lives in the Toledo, Ohio area at the end of May, I noticed quite a difference in their concrete pavement.  Bridge decks and some concrete pavement had a growl/buzz sound, which can be heard here at 14:12:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb1jUuxI4aw

The I-75 southbound frontage road for exits 195 A-B had a weird combination of buzzing and whistling from the different sections of concrete.

[colinstu]

I thought the sound had to do with the composition of the pavement and your tire. The rubber actually sticks to it and 'rips' back off which causes this sound. Since asphalt has tar and stuff in it somehow is quieter (and it doesn't have grooves added either).

[cbeach40]

One question I would like to ask is why in the US bridges tend to be concrete, whereas in Canada (or at least Ontario), bridges tend to be asphalt surface? For example, the satellite image below is of the 407 crossing the Credit River between Mavis Rd and Mississauga Rd.

Waterproofing, the deck seal is under the asphalt there. Not sure about other jurisdictions but that's why an asphalt surface is used on structures here.

[Buffaboy]

I've always enjoyed it, but I don't know how it occurs. Some bridges in my area are being replaced by concrete bridges that lack the "hum" and have more of a "rolling" or scraping sound if you know what I mean.

My best guess would be the tire forcing air into the groove, then forcing out the sides below the tire.  I think I know what sound you're referring to, but I couldn't find a video of it.  Do the new bridge decks have longitudinal tining like this?  It seems to be the new NYSDOT standard for new and re-decked bridges.

That's basically what I had in mind. A couple new bridges on the Thruway are like that. The new Cleveland Dr overpass in Buffalo is concrete and is practically silent.

[silverback1065]

I love the concrete noise. Unfortunately, they are starting to tine the road perpendicular to remove the noise because some people hate it. Concrete pavement is my favorite in general though.

[sparker]

Around these parts, newer concrete pavement surfaces are generally cast with "micro" logitudinal cuts for drainage; asphalt normally doesn't have the cuts as such but is textured to maximize water runoff to the carriageway sides.  When older concrete has been cut for drainage purposes, the grooves are typically deeper and wider than current practice.  The end result has been that newer surfaces have a more consistent "hum", but at a much lower level, while the tire interface noise on older grooved concrete is considerably louder in volume as well as decidedly lower in frequency.  However, when driving in rain the sound of the water being displaced masks the groove noise to a noticeable degree.

[LM117]

VDOT recently repaved VA-41/Franklin Turnpike near Danville about 3 months ago. They should've stuck with original asphalt. This new asphalt they used looks and rides like poo. I've never seen it used anywhere else. I drive it nearly every day and it's like listening to nails on a chalkboard. It looks and feels cheap...which is probably the real reason this crap was used. They also took their time properly painting the lines. They left temporary painted lines for well over a month. The older segments are much smoother.

http://www.godanriver.com/news/pittsylvania_county/franklin-turnpike-road-work-uses-different-kind-of-treatment/article_9dff8bf2-2135-11e6-afb6-9feadaeaa3c9.html?mode=jqm

TLDR: VDOT used poo to repave VA-41.

[AMLNet49]

Used to love the NY Thruway's New England Section when it was paved with concrete until a few years ago. Would always remind me the feeling of driving into NY City.

[jbnati27]

I prefer concrete, too. I even like the rhythmic "click" of the tires over the expansion joints. Seems like they last longer, too, but I'm sure it's more expensive. However, Ohio tends to fill the potholes with asphalt, which can really make the road surface terrible.

[roadman65]

I always like concrete over asphalt except when I was a child as NJ highways always had a loud roar on most of the roads that were that way.  Too bad NJ resurfaced I-78, as I noticed the last time I was there in 12.  I-78 was concrete from the Delaware River to one mile before I-287, and from NJ 124 in Union to the NJ Turnpike for years.  It saddened me to see if covered up as it was done even before my 12 trip.

Florida is bringing it back on I-4 from DeLand to Daytona, and I-75 still has it from Manatee County up to Tampa without being covered.

[jwolfer]

I always like concrete over asphalt except when I was a child as NJ highways always had a loud roar on most of the roads that were that way.  Too bad NJ resurfaced I-78, as I noticed the last time I was there in 12.  I-78 was concrete from the Delaware River to one mile before I-287, and from NJ 124 in Union to the NJ Turnpike for years.  It saddened me to see if covered up as it was done even before my 12 trip.

Florida is bringing it back on I-4 from DeLand to Daytona, and I-75 still has it from Manatee County up to Tampa without being covered.

In Florida cities the interstates are usually concrete.  Will i4 ultimate have concrete when it's all done?