Road Acoustics
Business Model
For Musical Roads
Reintroducing the asphalt-based instrument in a form of surface-application, nondestructive, custom-designed masterpieces
“Road Acoustics” is the first company in the Middle East to provide this service/product, and we're proud of it.
- Our first project in the UAE was proudly installed alongside Al Ain Airport Road, replicating the first eight notes of the Emirati National Anthem, after calculating the unique distance between strips and repeating them for the duration of the melody. The entire installation was 340 Meters long and takes approximately four seconds to drive across it and hear your car humming: “Ishy Bilady”
* Musical roads are used in many countries to persuade drivers to stay within safe speed limits. The science of a musical road is calculated for that speed, and it has been demonstrated that people have an innate desire to participate at these speeds to experience the musical road. It can also help municipalities and highway establishments raise funds by selling ad space on their roads.
Utilizing DOT-approved materials eliminates risks of interference with traffic and dangerous driving situations.
Executive Summary
- The used materials are DOT-approved asphalt synthetic with a super-strong adhesive backing, it can be installed as an inlay marking on new asphalt or as an overlay marking on most asphalt and concrete pavement surfaces in good condition. We reverse engineer the desired melody for the speed limit and create the design calculations accordingly.
- Our process is to duplicate the desired melody in a “synth model” – a sound file synchronizing the melody's series of tones approximating the sound of the musical road. Once approved, the synth model will be used to extrapolate all calculations. delivering precise dimensions for a layout of vibrational elements that will faithfully recreate the melody, and a graphical representation of the installation.
Honda | The Civic Project - 2008
How does a musical road work?
- Musical roads consist of strips or grooves placed on the road surface, as vehicles drive over these strips at a specific speed, they create vibrations.
- The vibrations translate into musical notes, creating a melody.
- The design and spacing of the strips determine the pitch and tone of the notes produced.
- Pitch Control: The distance between each strip affects the frequency of the vibrations.
Closer Strips Produce higher-pitched tones.
Wider Spaced Strips Produce lower-pitched tones.
- Speed Requirement: For the melody to be correctly played, vehicles must maintain a constant speed.
Does it really make driving safer?
Yes, it does! Where careless drivers might blow right through a speed zone ignoring safe driving, researchers have found that the human desire to “participate” encourages drivers to keep the posted speed limit to hear the musical road. There are cases of musical roads being installed in Japan just to get drivers to slow down and it has been successful in decreasing accidents and saving lives.
What speed is the best for making musical roads?
Too slow and there’s not enough force in the tire hitting the bumps to make a quality sound…too fast and you’re buzzing right over it and using a lot more material (which can get expensive), but we think the best speed for a musical road is between 80-100km/h.