Duluth’s pavement ‘grinding’ project aims to reduce tire hum

A section of Interstate 35 in Duluth is a testing ground for an unusual concrete-grinding process that’s designed to make tires hum rather than squeal on older concrete pavements.

So far, the noise-reduction process, which applies to decades-old concrete surfaces that produce high-pitched tire noise when cars zoom by, appears to be working as advertised.

But there’s a catch: It’s more expensive than traditional concrete diamond grinding, so its application is limited.

Concrete insiders call it a “Next Generation Concrete Surface” or NGCS project. It was used on a 3.7-mile portion of I-35 between Boundary Avenue and Cody Street near Duluth as part of a larger I-35 improvement project

Read more at Finance & Commerce.

Photo by MnDOT