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.

Effects of traffic loads on reinforced concrete railroad culverts

In the context of the present conference paper culverts are defined as an opening or conduit passing through an embankment usually for the purpose of conveying water or providing safe pedestrian and animal crossings under rail infrastructure. The clear opening of culverts may reach values of up to 12m however, values around 3m are encountered much more frequently. Depending on the topography, the number of culverts is about 10 times that of bridges. In spite of this, their dynamic behavior has received far less attention than that of bridges. The fundamental frequency of culverts is considerably higher than that of bridges even in the case of short span bridges. As the operational speed of modern high-speed passenger rail systems rises, higher frequencies are excited and thus more energy is encountered in frequency bands where the fundamental frequency of box culverts is located. Many research efforts have been spent on the subject of ballast instability due to bridge resonance, since it was first observed when high-speed trains were introduced to the Paris/Lyon rail line. To prevent this phenomenon from occurring, design codes establish a limit value for the vertical deck acceleration. Obviously one needs some sort of numerical model in order to estimate this acceleration level and at that point things get quite complicated. Not only acceleration but also displacement values are of interest e.g. to estimate the impact factor. According to design manuals the structural design should consider the depth of cover, trench width and condition, bedding type, backfill material, and compaction. The same applies to the numerical model however, the question is: What type of model is appropriate for this job? A 3D model including the embankment and an important part of the soil underneath the culvert is computationally very expensive and hard to justify taking into account the associated costs. Consequently, there is a clear need for simplified models and design rules in order to achieve reasonable costs. This paper will describe the results obtained from a 2D finite element model which has been calibrated by means of a 3D model and experimental data obtained at culverts that belong to the high-speed railway line that links the two towns of Segovia and Valladolid in Spain

Do charges to freight trucks and trains in the European Union reflect their social marginal costs? Application to the case of Spain

In the last few years, the European Union (EU) has become greatly concerned about the environmental costs of road transport in Europe as a result of the constant growth in the market share of trucks and the steady decline in the market share of railroads. In order to reverse this trend, the EU is promoting the implementation of additional charges for heavy goods vehicles (HGV) on the trunk roads of the EU countries. However, the EU policy is being criticised because it does not address the implementation of charges to internalise the external costs produced by automobiles and other transport modes such as railroad. In this paper, we first describe the evolution of the HGV charging policy in the EU, and then assess its practical implementation across different European countries. Second, and of greater significance, by using the case study of Spain, we evaluate to what extent the current fees on trucks and trains reflect their social marginal costs, and consequently lead to an allocative-efficient outcome. We found that for the average case in Spain the truck industry meets more of the marginal social cost produced by it than does the freight railroad industry. The reason for this lies in the large sums of money paid by truck companies in fuel taxes, and the subsidies that continue to be granted by the government to the railroads.

Cobertura de la trinchera ferroviaria de Hendaya

Un problema del ferrocarril al paso por las ciudades europeas es el efecto barrera generado, que impide su desarrollo más allá de las vías. Si se salta la barrera lo cierto es que ello se hace sólo en sitios concretos y el efecto psicológico de aislamiento persiste para los habitantes del entorno. Este trabajo presenta de manera sucinta los problemas de concepción, comprobación y vibraciones planteados por la estructura de cubierta de la trinchera ferroviaria de Hendaya, consistente en una losa de hormigón pretensado y luz variable de 20-40 metros, que resuelve el problema de aislamiento entre las dos partes de la ciudad. Su construcción ha sido posible gracias al acuerdo entre la SNCF e inversores privados y está permitiendo la construcción sobre ella de 6 edificios de viviendas y una residencia de turismo, la demolición del antiguo ?Pont-Vieux? y la construcción de un nuevo ?Pont-Vieux?, integrado completamente en la promoción inmobiliaria. An important problem put by the train in its passage by the cities of Europe generally and in France in particular is the effect barrier which builds up, preventing the cities from developing beyond. Even if this barrier is crossed, it is certain that the passage is restricted to concrete places and always acts as psychological barrier for the local residents. This article presents in a brief way the problems of conception, analysis and vibration of the cover structure of the railroad trench of Hendaye. This structure consists of a 20-40 meters span slab of pre-stressed concrete that solves the isolation problem of both parts of the town of Hendaye. Its construction was possible thanks to the agreement of the SNCF (French Railways)and some private investors, and is allowing the investors the construction on top of 6 residential buildings and a holiday residence, with demolition of the ancient “Pont-Vieux” and building of a new “Pont-Vieux”, which is completely integrated into the real-estate development. Special attention is given to the change of transverse cross-section of the slab during construction stages, which originates a redistribution of stresses, and to the long-term equilibrium of horizontal forces.