PROCESS FOR ESTABLISHING A SOUND-PROOFING WALL ALONG A TRAFFIC ROAD OR THE LIKE

Abstract: Process for establishing a sound-proofing wall (4) along a traffic road or the like according to which branches are planted close to one another in the soil and are made to grow, in such a way that they can grow into and against one another so as to form a closed wall. Panels (5) being posi­ tioned between two rows of branches to obtain an almost closed wall immediately after the planting of the branches, said branches previously being connected to one another by means of threads or ropes to form a sort of weave.

Description: Process for estabilishing a soun-d-proofing wall along a traffic road or the like and sound-proofing wall obtained by the application of this process. The invention relates in the very first place to a process for establishing a sound-proofing wall along a traffic road, an industrial estate or the like. Such sound-proofing walls are used at an increasingly large scale in order to protect the inhabitants of neighbouring areas against the noise which is caused e.g. by the traffic. With the known processes, sound-proofing walls are obtained in general by building them from panels, beams and the like, which themselves can be made of metal, synthetic material, concrete or a combination of these materials, depending on the requirements made of the walls concerned. It is also known to form a sound-proofing wall by building an earthen terrace. Such a terrace, however, takes up much space and can therefore be used on a limited scale only. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a process for establishing a sound-proofing wall, which process is easy to carry out and provides a wall with a natural aspect and good sound-proofing properties, whereas the wall also occupies little space. The process according to the invention is characterized in that branches, either already having roots or not, are planted close to one another in the soil and are made to grow, in such a way that at least partly they can grow into and against one another so as to form a closed wall, whereas means are connected with the branches to obtain an almost closed wall immediately after the planting of the branches as well. The branches having their roots in the soil will increase in thickness and, after a while, will be close to one another over a considerable part of their length, whereas the upper end of the branches will form sprigs and twigs at the planting or some time thereafter, so that the whole will assure an effective proofing of the noise. In order to enable the planting of the branches close to one another in a simple way, so that also after the planting the branches will be in one single, essentially vertical, plane, it may be provided, according to a further embodiment of the invention, that a number of branches, before being planted into the soil, are connected with one another by means of threads, ropes or the like, which are provided at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the branches and at a distance from one another, and which are wound in such a way around the consecutive branches that a sort of weave is obtained. The manufacture of this woven product can take place, if desired, in a factory hall, so that the work in the open air and along the traffic road takes as little time as possible. In this way, optimal use can also be made of the time that the weather conditions are favourable for planting the branches. Because of the transportation of the woven product and the handling thereof at the planting of the branches, the woven product will be manufactured in certain lengths, so that it can be wound e.g. into a roll which is easy to handle. In order to prevent unfavourable reflections of sound between two walls set up at both sides of a road, it may be desirable to let the branches, seen in a plane at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the traffic road, form an angle with the vertical plane, in such a way that the tops of the branches are directed away from the longitudinal axis of the road. The reflection of the sound by the walls then does not take place approximately parallel to the plane of the road, but more obliquely upwards, so to the area above the road. As observed above, it is necessary to provide means to obtain a closed wall immediately after the planting of the branches as well, as, because of the irregular shapes of the branches, there are already free spaces between the branches, which would influence the effect of the wall negatively. According to an embodiment of the invention, the means for obtaining a closed wall consist of panels of metal, synthetic material or a similar material. So the branches actually form the foundation for the panels concerned. As material for the panels, use will be made of course of a non-oxidizing material, and especially a corrugated panel of glass-fibre-reinforced polyester is thought of. According to a further embodiment of the invention, the panels are provided between two rows of branches which stand at a short distance from one another. In this way the panels are hidden from view almost entirely, so that they are not a disturbing element. It is achieved, moreover, that a firm anchorage of the panels in the wall itself is obtained. In order to obtain furthermore a construction of the wall which is as strong as possible, it may be provided that a number of the branches situated at both sides of the panel are connected with one another by means which extend themselves through holes in the panel. The means for connecting with one another the branches situated at both sides of the panel may consist in particular of a strip which lies against the outside of two juxtaposed branches and which is connected, by means of a threaded rod passing between the branches and through the panel, with a similar strip, which lies against two branches at the other side of the panel. By providing such a connection between the two rows of branches, also the bending resistance thereof will be increased, so that the wall will resist better to wind loads. For obtaining the required branches, use can be made of woody fast-growing plants, such as branches of willow, oak, black alder, maple, hornbeam, hawthorn and the like. It is well-known that especially willows grow very fast, so that especially this material qualifies. In the choice of the material, however, attention will have to be paid also to the local soil condition and vegetation and to other factors such as the sensitivity of the material used to illnesses and plagues. Because thereof, it may also be desirable to use several types of material next to one another or to use a mixed composition of plants. Furthermore it will be obvious that, although in the above there has been question in particular of a sound-proofing wall, such a wall can also be used for establishing partitions which do not have a negative effect on the environment. The invention also relates to the "weave of branches" as used in the above-described process. The invention will be described in the following by means of an example of an embodiment shown in the drawing, in which: figure 1 shows a lateral view, partly at an enlarged scale, of a number of branches which have been united into a strip of weave, figure 2 shows a section of a part of a sound-proofing wall obtained by using two strips of weave of figure 1, immediately after the erection of the wall, figure 3 shows a section similar to the one of figure 2, but after a period of one to two years after the erection of the wall, figure 4 shows a section similar to those of figures 2 and 3, but after a number of years have passed since the erection of the wall, and figure 5 shows a vertical section of a traffic road with a sound-proofing wall according to figures 2 - 4 provided along that road. Figure 1 shows the weave 3 which can be planted into the ground and which consists of branches 1 and connecting threads 2. Possibly the one end of the branches may already have roots, so that the branches will grow faster after the planting. Figure 2 shows, at a larger scale than figure 1, a cross section over a part of a sound-proofing wall 4, which consists of two weaves 3 and a corrugated panel 5 therebetween, which corrugated panel may consist in particular of glass-fibre-reinforced polyester. For connecting with one another the weave strips 3 situated at both sides of the corrugated panel 5, use can be made of two strips 6, which are connected with one another by means of a threaded rod 7, on which nuts 8 are screwed, as is shown schematically in figure 2. It may be observed that with the strip of weave in figure 1 the connecting threads 2 are always wound entirely around a branch and are therefore situated alternately in the one outside surface and the other outside surface, whereas figure 2 shows the possibility that in fact there is a binding thread in both surfaces, in which case the twb binding threads are wound around one another between two branches. Figure 3 shows the wall as shown in figure 2, but about one or two years after the branches I were planted, this in dependence on the material of the branches. The branches 1 will then have come to lie against one another over almost their entire length, so that the corrugated panel 5 will then have lost its function for the greater part. Figure 4 shows the wall after more years have passed and the branches 2 have grown into one another, so that a very firm wall has been obtained. Parts of the corrugated panel 5 may now have been enclosed entirely by the branches 1, so that a firm support of the corrugated board 5 has been obtained. In the situation as shown in figures 3 and 4, the connecting threads 2 can either be enclosed entirely by the branches grown into one another, or such a material can be used which will disappear by natural influences after some time. Figure 5 shows the erection of a sound-proofing wall 4 along the one side of a traffic road. As appears in particular from this figure, the corrugated panel 5 will extend itself to a point slightly under the surface when the branches are planted, whereas furthermore the branches are planted somewhat obliquely in order to prevent the reflection of the noise over the road itself. In general a rather sharp limitation of the twigs at the upper side of the wall will be necessary, as other wise too much dispersion of the noise might occur, which means that the noise might be reflected downwards again, which in general is undesirable. In general it will be desirable that the sound-proofing wall is interrupted locally, such as for making passages for pedestrians and cyclists. In that case a second wall will be erected parallel to the first wall, immediately behind the passage, in such a way that the noise passing through the passage is caught by the second wall. The second wall, of course, only has to have a very limited length. To begin with, the ends of the walls can be supported by thicker branches or posts, whereas of course also supports can be used and this not only at the ends of the wall, but also at other places for supporting the branches as long as these are not yet rooted in the soil sufficiently. All these possibilities, however, will be obvious to the expert and therefore need no further explanation.

Claims: Claims: 1. Process for estabilishing a sound-proofing wall along a traffic road or the like, characterized in that branches (1), either already having roots or not, are planted close to one another in the soil and are made to grow, in such a way that at least partly they can grow into and against one another so as to form a closed wall, whereas means (5) are connected with the branches (1) to obtain an almost closed wall immediately after the planting of the branches as well. 2. Process according to claim 1, characterized in that a number of branches (1X, before being planted into the soil, are connected with one another by means of threads, ropes (2) or the like, which are provided at a right angle to the longitudinal direction of the branches (1) and at a distance from one another, and which are wound in such a way around the consecu tive branches (1) that a sort of weave (3) is obtained. 3. Process according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the branches (1), seen in a plane at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the traffic road, form an angle with the vertical plane, in such a way that the tops of the branches (I) are directed away from the longitudinal axis of the road. 4. Process according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for obtaining a closed wall consist of panels (5) of synthetic material, metal or the like. 5. Process according to claim 4, characterized in that the panels (5) consist of glass-fibre-reinforced polyester. 6. Process according to claims 4 or 5, characterized in that the panels (5) are provided between two rows of branches (1) which stand at a small distance from one another. 7. Process according to claim 6, characterized in that a number of branches (1) which are situated at both sides of a panel (5), are connected with one another by means (6,7,8) which extend themselves through holes in the panel (5). 8. Process according to claim 7, characterized in that the means for connecting with one another the branches (1) situated at both sides of a panel (5), consist of a strip (6) which lies against the outside of two juxtaposed branches (1), which strip (6) is connected, by means of a threaded rod (7) which passes between the branches (1) and through the panel (5), with a similar strip (6), which lies against two branches (1) at the other side of the panel (5). 9. Process according to anyone or several of the preceding claims, characterized in that as material for the branches (1), use is made of woody, fast-growing plants, such as willow, oak, black alder, maple, hornbeam, hawthorn or the like. 10. Weave (3) consisting of branches (1) and of threads, ropes (2) or the like which connect these branches (1), destined for the application of the process according to anyone or several of the preceding claims.

Inventors: DE WINTER, MAARTEN, PRINS, FREDERIK DANIEL GIJSBERT
Applicants: OP DE KAAI BEHEERMAATSCHAPPIJ B.V.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: E01F8
IPC codes: E01F8