Acoustic mitigation interventions along the A4 BS-PD motorway

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

In 2018, the VDP in ATI, along with Tecnic, Progetti e Servizi, and PAT, won the tender for the final and executive design of some noise-reducing interventions along the A4 BR-VR-VI-PD motorway; in 2023, it won a further contract on the same issue with the same group.

The projects concern noise mitigation interventions along the A4 motorway, as part of the update of the PCAR (Noise Containment and Abatement Plan) in compliance with the Ministerial Decree of 29/11/2000 with regard to six macro-interventions planned in the first five-year period (2018-2023) and ten macro-interventions planned in the second five-year period (2023 – ongoing).

The design considered road safety and traffic regulations, as well as general construction design and technical criteria, and concerned the detailed positioning and implementation of the interventions, considering all technical aspects, both of the finished work and its feasibility during the construction phase.

The positioning of the anti-noise interventions was detailed through engineering, both of the geometric characteristics of the barrier’s tracking axis (plano-altimetric trend), of the geotechnical characteristics of the foundation soils and of the structural characteristics of the elements that make up the entire barrier. This was done with the aid of a detailed celerimetric survey throughout the entire duration of the intervention and a geognostic investigation. The first indications for the positioning and type of safety barriers, hydraulic signposts, and systems were also designed. In particular, for the latter, the specificity of the work was to provide for some parts of noise barriers integrated with photovoltaic modules by previously agreeing with the Concessionaire the connection points to the existing grid, thus minimizing transportation and grid connection costs, as well as providing for the possibility of integration with the Concessionaire’s Plan for the Construction of Photovoltaic Systems.

STUDY SPECIFICITY

With reference to the interventions of the first five-year period, VDP developed the following two macro-interventions:

• The MI-10 concerns the section of the A4 motorway between progressive roads 288+700 and 294+600, the section of the Verona Southern Ring Road between progressive kilometers 12+290 and 16+500 and the Verona Eastern Ring Road between progressive kilometers 0+000 and 8+300, for a total length of 14,200 meters. Three municipalities are affected: Verona, San Martino Buon Albergo, and Lavagno, all part of the province of Verona.
• the MI-17 concerns the stretch of motorway of the A31 Valdastico, between the progressive roads at the beginning 53+700 and the progressive roads at the end 88+750, for a total development of the Macro-intervention of approximately over 35 kilometers. 16 municipalities are affected, all falling within the province of Vicenza.

The PCAR update resulted in the sizing of a total of 4,736 linear meters of acoustic barriers, for a total of 16,251 square meters of barriers.

With reference to the interventions of the second five-year period, VDP has developed the following four macro-interventions:

• the MI-01 concerns the stretch of motorway A4 between the progressive roads 217+700 and 224+100 for a total development of 6,400 m, entirely in the municipality of Brescia. The macro-intervention is characterized by the presence of the Brescia Southern Ring Road which runs parallel to the A4 motorway and by the interconnection with the A21 motorway which flows into the Brescia Centro exit toll booth.
• The MI-02 concerns the section of the A4 motorway between the progressive roads 224+100 and 231+700 for a total development of 7,600 m along the A4 motorway and between the progressive roads 0+600 and 4+100 for a total development of 3,500 m along the Brescia Eastern Ring Road. Five municipalities are affected: Brescia, Rezzato, Castenedolo, Mazzano, Calcinato.
• The MI-07 concerns the stretch of the A4 motorway between the progressive roads 272+900 and 277+400 for a total development of 3,500 m, including 3 municipalities: Villafranca di Verona, Sommacampagna, Verona. Approximately halfway through the macro-intervention is the road junction where the A4 connects with the A22, the latter managed by another concessionaire.
• the MI-08 concerns the stretch of motorway A4 between the progressive roads 277+400 and 283+600 for a total development of 6,200 m, entirely in the municipality of Verona. For the entire project section, the macro-intervention is characterized by the presence of the A4 motorway and the Verona Southern Ring Road, which run in close proximity and are managed by the concessionaire itself.

The PCAR update resulted in the sizing of a total of 8,055 linear meters of acoustic barriers, for a total of approximately 35,760 square meters of barriers.