Does anyone enjoy the sounds your tires make on the grooved concrete highways???

[Mamba205]

Did you know you can, usually, tell what state you are in by listening to the sound your tires make on the grooved concrete highways?

[roadman65]

No, I did not, but in NJ it always had a roar on its non grooved concrete pavements that you never heard anywhere else.

[spmkam]

I always remember that the pavement on 95 in New York is different than in Connecticut and it makes for a noiser ride.

[corco]

When I hear it I immediately assume I'm in a big city, even if I'm just west of Ogallala

[Mamba205]

No, I did not, but in NJ it always had a roar on its non grooved concrete pavements that you never heard anywhere else.

Yeah, their asphalt is very rough and makes your tires sound like they are being sandpapered.

[roadman65]

I know Pennsylvania has a nice interesting sound on their newer concrete roads.  One that has not been duplicated yet.

I do miss the old clunk, clunk, clunk, on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando.

As far as the other users go, you will find out.

[Mamba205]

I know Pennsylvania has a nice interesting sound on their newer concrete roads.  One that has not been duplicated yet.

I do miss the old clunk, clunk, clunk, on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando.

As far as the other users go, you will find out.

I like the clunk clunk (joint slap), too. My favorite grooved concrete highways are in Indiana, Illinois, and Florida. If the grooves are close together, you hear a whining sound, and if the grooves are far apart, you hear a weird spaceship kind of sound.

[Mamba205]

When I hear it I immediately assume I'm in a big city, even if I'm just west of Ogallala

It makes me think of going for a long car ride. I especially like the sound transitioning from asphalt to the "singing" concrete highways. The contrast between them is remarkable.

Please just hit "quote" once...

[Road Hog]

One of these days, some company will pay to have grooves cut in the road that sing to you like an old LP record.

[bugo]

I don't like hearing anything when I drive besides my iPod and the engine if it's a V8.

[empirestate]

One of these days, some company will pay to have grooves cut in the road that sing to you like an old LP record.

Old news:
http://youtu.be/BFlkWV45oYE
http://youtu.be/hIAaYfC3-rU?t=36s

[jp the roadgeek]

The US 30 Lancaster Bypass has a very sopranoey sound, almost like a string section or a high note on a synthesizer.

[US81]

The US 30 Lancaster Bypass has a very sopranoey sound, almost like a string section or a high note on a synthesizer.

I did a double-take when I read this.

The (old) I-30 segment in downtown Ft. Worth just west of the I-35 intersection - sometimes called the Lancaster Bypass or Lancaster Elevated - had grooved pavement with the singing high-pitch, too.  More mezzo-soprano I would say, but still...

Suddenly, I was a kid again.

[cjk374]

I miss hearing the expansion joints of the old concrete on I-20.  The concrete put down in the early 60s had a wide distance between the joints.  Louisiana ran out of money sometime in the mid 60s, & couldn't finish I-20 between Bossier City & MP 39 or 40...which is where I-20 flies over US 79/80 closer to the Dixie Inn exit (44)...until the early 70s. (if the facts counteract my wild guessing, please correct me & add details)

The concrete put down in the early 70s had expansion joints that were much closer together.  Then when they replaced the concrete in places, the sound of the expansion joints disappeared altogether.  They really disappeared when they started using blacktop instead of concrete.    

I remember as a child/teenager making many trips between Simsboro & Shreveport to see my grandparents.  Especially at night, after an hour long drive on that concrete then taking the exit ramp & turning on the blacktop on LA 507 was such a strange feeling that would sweep over your nerves. 

[Mamba205]

The US 30 Lancaster Bypass has a very sopranoey sound, almost like a string section or a high note on a synthesizer.

Speaking of synthesizers, some of the grooved concrete in Illinois and Florida makes your tires produce a seemingly "electric" sound. The groove pattern responsible for this synthesizer-like sound is 1-1/8 in, 5/8 in, 1 in, 5/8 in, 1-1/8 in, 3/4 in, 3/4 in that repeats every 6 in. The lower frequency of the grooves corresponds to a lower frequency sound from your tires, ranging from 73 Hz at 25 mph to 190 Hz at 65 mph. This is in stark contrast to most grooved concrete highways, where the grooves are just 3/4 inch apart, which corresponds to 587 Hz at 25 mph and 1,525 Hz at 65 mph. The farther apart the grooves are, the richer the sound from your tires becomes. This is because more harmonics are being generated.

[AsphaltPlanet]

^ I have to ask... how do you measure the sounds and concrete tining spacing to know all this?

[Mamba205]

^ I have to ask... how do you measure the sounds and concrete tining spacing to know all this?

By one of three ways:

1) Listening. The frequency of the sound is purely dependent on speed and groove spacing. If, for example, I am driving 1,000 inches per second (~57 mph) and I hear a tone with a frequency of 1,000 Hz, I know the grooves must be spaced 1 in apart.

2) States DOTs typically specify a particular uniform and random groove pattern to be used for the transverse tining/bridge deck grooving. Missouri almost always uses 1/2 inches, Illinois mostly uses 3/4 inch. New Jersey typically uses 1-1/2 inches.

3) Measuring myself, usually by pulling onto the shoulder, snapping a picture of the grooves, and then driving off. I do not get out of the car. Or, I will use the street view on Google Maps.
Post Merge: January 26, 2013, 01:22:03 PM

^ I have to ask... how do you measure the sounds and concrete tining spacing to know all this?

Here is a picture of bridge deck grooving that I took from the shoulder:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/treeclimbermamba205/6218103000/

It has the 1-1/8 inch, 5/8 inch, 1 inch, 5/8 inch, 1-1/8 inch, 3/4 inch, 3/4 inch pattern. However, you can see the breaks in the pattern, which is where the cutting machine made a new pass.

[colinstu]

I do enjoy different sounds of tires on pavement. I can't describe it besides having a high-pitched noise, I think it only happens on fresh smooth concrete (not asphalt) not very sure though.

I do know of a song that had a familiar sound to it... so I chopped it down to that snippet & removed the vocals best I could. Don't pay attention to the beat, but hear the high-pitched droning? sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_d4GPweqgU (original song is Vassy -- Desire)

Sorry off topic:

Another thing I enjoy is the sound of cars passing by very quickly. Pulling over on the freeway for example and having cars zoom by at 65mph causes a very interesting sound & wind feeling.
Another example I threw together awhile ago... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmcewSH65Qs (source clip had a weird mic-rubbing sound)

My favorite kind of ambient music is the sound of wind passing through trees and the slight sound of tire/wind noise of a car driving on a distant road. It's very calming and reminds me of an earlier time.

[AsphaltPlanet]

^ Not related, but that ambient wind noise is really well captured in a few of the scenes in No Country for Old Men.  It sounds like barren country.

[Mamba205]

I do enjoy different sounds of tires on pavement. I can't describe it besides having a high-pitched noise, I think it only happens on fresh smooth concrete (not asphalt) not very sure though.

I do know of a song that had a familiar sound to it... so I chopped it down to that snippet & removed the vocals best I could. Don't pay attention to the beat, but hear the high-pitched droning? sound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_d4GPweqgU (original song is Vassy -- Desire)

Another thing I enjoy is the sound of cars passing by very quickly. Pulling over on the freeway for example and having cars zoom by at 65mph causes a very interesting sound & wind feeling.
Another example I threw together awhile ago... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmcewSH65Qs (source clip had a weird mic-rubbing sound)

My favorite kind of ambient music is the sound of wind passing through trees and the slight sound of tire/wind noise of a car driving on a distant road. It's very calming and reminds me of an earlier time.

Yeah, the sound is almost exclusive to concrete because of the grooves they cut into it. Concrete isn't porous like asphalt, so they have to make the grooves to prevent water from staying on the driving surface so drivers don't hydroplane. When the grooves are cut in a repetitive pattern, a narrow-band frequency sound is produced as the tires impact the grooves.

The high-pitch droning occurs when the grooves repeat between 1/4 to 1 inch. As the grooves become spaced farther apart, the sound transitions to more of a hum. Eventually, the grooves become far enough apart that the frequency of the tire impacts becomes lower than our ears can sense, and all we hear is an atonal (toneless) clatter.

The people who groove the concrete try to randomize the spaces between the grooves, to eliminate a dominant frequency from occurring. A good random pattern will repeat no less than every 6 feet (thereabouts). When the grooves get closer you will begin to hear your tires make a slightly tonal clatter as the frequency moves into the audible spectrum.

Some of the weirdest sounds to come from your tires are the result of the concrete grooves being poorly randomized. One such example is when IDOT rebuilt some of the bridges on I-270. The pavement grooving company used these spaces; 1-1/8 in, 5/8 in, 1 in, 5/8 in, 1-1/8 in, 3/4 in, 3/4 in. If you add them up, the pattern repeats at 6 inch intervals. This pattern makes your tires hum like the lowest notes on a Carillon bell. It is a very tonal sound, though you can hear some inharmonicity, which interestingly is also a characteristic of a Carillon bell.

[Scott5114]

I always enjoy the whistling sound that Kansas concrete roads make. A neat feature of those is that the note seems to drop an octave or so when you cross a bridge.

[Mamba205]

I always enjoy the whistling sound that Kansas concrete roads make. A neat feature of those is that the note seems to drop an octave or so when you cross a bridge.

Interesting. That's because they use a different groove pattern on the bridges than on the roadway. If you're ever driving in Madison County, Illinois, there are some bridges that use a 6 inch groove pattern, while the pavement before and after the bridges uses 3/4 inch grooves. This results in your tires making a sound that goes from a high whistle, to a low droning tone, back to a high whistle. If you drive slower than 40 mph, it sounds like your tires are growling.

[roadman65]

One interesting sound is in NYC crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.  It sounds like the steel grid decks of the draw bridges.  Then nearby, the Manhattan Bridge during Winter months when Snow Tires were needed back in the 80's, my dad's old Pinto would slide around like driving on ice.  With the normal tires he never experienced it.

NYC has the strangest road things.  Heck they still use old style mast arms and old controllers that use relays.  Just look at the size of the cabinet housing the signal controls.  Then again someone here mentioned that NYC just gotten into the 21st Century with fiber optics just in the past few years.

[Mamba205]

One interesting sound is in NYC crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.  It sounds like the steel grid decks of the draw bridges.  Then nearby, the Manhattan Bridge during Winter months when Snow Tires were needed back in the 80's, my dad's old Pinto would slide around like driving on ice.  With the normal tires he never experienced it.

NYC has the strangest road things.  Heck they still use old style mast arms and old controllers that use relays.  Just look at the size of the cabinet housing the signal controls.  Then again someone here mentioned that NYC just gotten into the 21st Century with fiber optics just in the past few years.

I like those steel bridges. When I lived in New Jersey, the old steel grate of the Queens Bridge in Bound Brook over the Raritan Canal made that nice humming sound.

[roadman65]

I know what you mean about steel grates.  Drive the New Hope- Lambertiville Free Bridge on NJ and PA Route's 179 and you still have it.

Also on old US 17 where it crosses the canal in Chesapeake, VA before heading south along the narrow highway into NC.  I believe now the part that still is US 17 has been widened now, but it would make that hum.

Years ago, near Hershey, PA, PA 743 had two bridges across a creek that made the rhythm that were replaced with a new alignment for PA 743 to avoid a 90 degree turn it made south of the old bridges.  Of course, the new alignment is modern with a concrete deck across the creek.

I especially love drawbridge decks.  Some have bass sound while others are high pitched.