Screening effectiveness of open and in-filled wave barriers: A full-scale experimental study

• Field tests were conducted to evaluate the isolation performance of wave barriers.
• The effects of frequency, Rayleigh wave length and trench depth were investigated.
• Results of the experiments were compared with the published literature.
• Geofoam filled trench can be suggested to be used as an efficient wave barrier.

The isolation of ground-borne vibrations caused by heavy traffic, construction activities and railway transportation has gained importance in recent years with rapid urbanization. Open or in-filled trenches have commonly been used as wave barriers in reducing unwanted vibrations. There only few experimental data concerning the effects of frequency of excitation, soil layering, material type and dimensions of the wave barrier on vibration control and isolation. In the present study, a series of full scale field experiments were conducted in order to investigate the screening efficiency of open, water filled and geofoam filled trenches. The attenuation of ground borne vibration was examined to determine the effects of frequency, distance and complex behavior of layering and irregular geometry of soil profile. Moreover, the results obtained from the experimental tests were compared with the numerical and experimental findings available in literature. Consequently, the field tests confirmed that the geofoam filled trench can be used as an efficient isolation system for reducing the transmission of ground-borne vibrations.