High speed railroad bridges. Conception, bases of design, typological possibilities and construction methods

Diseño conceptual de puentes de alta velocidad ferroviarios. Railroad bridges, in general, and those for high speed railways, in particular, demand very special conditions. The traffic loads are much higher than for road bridges. Loads due to braking and acceleration determine, due to their magnitude, the structural layout. Because of the speed of the vehicles there are specific dynamic effects which need to be considered. In order to ensure passenger comfort, compatible with speeds of up to 350 km/h, it is necessary to meet very demanding conditions with respect to stiffness, displacements and dynamic behavior. In this paper these conditions are briefly described and different typological possibilities to satisfy them are presented as well as the main construction methods applicable to this kind of bridges.

Architectural design and construction costs, tools towards territorial sustainability

This paper is presented in CIB: Management and Innovation Sustainable Built Environment 2011, as the study and analysis of the residential model of a rural area from the Iberian Peninsula, specifically applied to the case of the province of Cáceres, in the autonomous region of Extremadura, in Spain. To this end, from a database made up of building projects whose real costs are known, it is intended to establish the links of the different parameters studied through the corresponding functions of statistical analysis. One of the main objectives of this process is constituted by the possibility of establishing those design variables of higher economic importance, so as to keep an economic control of these parameters, generally geometrical and typological, from the very start of the project. And, in general, a higher optimization of resources in the construction of dwellings in the rural environment from their design is intended.

Discussion of "Bibliography and Data on Cable-Stayed Bridges", by the Subcommittee on Cable-Stayed Bridges of the Committee on Long-Span Steel Bridges of the Committee on Metals of the Structural Division (Oct., 1977)

The writer would like to point out the existence of a very remarkable Spanish cable-stayed bridge built in 1925, wich is thus older than the first one recorded by the authors (and probably the pioneer in concrete-deck type). The Tempul Aqueduct was designed by the famous Professor Educardo Torroja. The deck is a concrete box girder sustained by two planes of 3 mm diam 37-wire double cables working at 27 kg/mm2.

Design, development and construction of an outdoor testing facility for semi-transparent photovoltaic modules

Building-integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) is one of the most promising technologies enabling buildings to generate on-site part of their electricity needs while performing architectural functionalities. A clear example of BIPV products consists of semi-transparent photovoltaic modules (STPV), designed to replace the conventional glazing solutions in building façades. Accordingly, the active building envelope is required to perform multiple requirements such as provide solar shading to avoid overheating, supply solar gains and thermal insulation to reduce heat loads and improve daylight utilization. To date, various studies into STPV systems have focused on their energy performance based on existing simulation programs, or on the modelling, normally validated by limited experimental data, of the STPV modules thermal behaviour. Taking into account that very limited experimental research has been conducted on the energy performance of STPV elements and that the characterization in real operation conditions is necessary to promote an energetically efficient integration of this technology in the building envelope, an outdoor testing facility has been designed, developed and built at the Solar Energy Institute of the Technical University of Madrid. In this work, the methodology used in the definition of the testing facility, its capability and limitations are presented and discussed.

Design and construction of the Barriga Dam spillway through an improved wedge-shaped block technology

The Barriga Dam (Burgos, Spain) is a unique case study because its trapezoid spillway is located on the dam body and is composed of wedge-shaped concrete blocks (WSB) that include certain relevant improvements. This note summarizes the main features of the studies, the key aspects of the final design of the WSB and their placement on the dam, and important details of the spillway design. The design team concluded the study by showing the suitability of this enhanced technology for application to small dams and ponds in the short term, even with unit flows above 5 m2/s.