International Railway Journal - August 2007 - (Page 35)

nese high-speed Technical data Length of the whole route: 116km electrified double-track Contract 1: 50km Contract 2: 66km Longest single-span girder chain: 36km Earthworks: about 16km Elevated track system: about 1km Piers: about 3100 Height of piers: 3 to 22m Bore piles: about 30,000 FF Bögl track support layers: about 35,500 Bridges: 3 four-span girder bridges: with span lengths of 46-70-70-46m 33 three-span girder bridges: with span lengths of 33-48-33m to 82-12882m 16 single-span girder bridges: span length 40m 2.513 prefabricated single-span girder bridges: with span lengths of 2.26 x 32m, 193 x 24m and 44 x 20m concrete for the bridge base course, and the hydraulically-bound base course. By October, roughly 35,500 track support layers will be installed and track installed on them. Subsequently, construction workers will only have a few months left for the equipment and signalling technology to guarantee that the tests and subsequent trial operation can start in spring 2008. The Beijing Tianjin line will open on August 1 2008, just in time for the Olympic Games in Beijing. IRJ Huge moulds are used to form heavy bridge girder sections. more than 100km of the total track will run on pier-supported single-span girder bridges. In six factories, prefabricated bridge elements will be produced in lengths of 24-32m. Overhead gantry cranes lift the bridge sections, each weighing up to 950 tonnes, onto specially-designed heavyload vehicles, which then transport the girders over the prefabricated bridge elements to the installation site. Once the girders arrive at the site, an installation system takes over and lowers the girders into position. Short sections of the line will be constructed on embankments or an elevated track system based on either 28m auger piers made of concrete cast on site with a diameter of 40cm, or 30m driven piles with a diameter of 45cm. Around 150 drill rigs are currently being used simultaneously. The deep foundations of the bridges consist of bore piles 100-150cm in diameter and 30-70m in length. These are driven into the ground using one of three drilling techniques: a dry rotary drilling method with drilling buckets, a direct hydraulic circulating method, or suction drilling. Almost 90% of the foundation works have now been completed, and the innumerable bridge piers have been placed on the pile head slabs. The civil works were due for completion by early summer to ensure tracklaying could begin immediately afterwards. The large number of simultaneous installations requires a tremendous logistic effort on the part of the Chinese construction companies. These works have been hampered by the lack of existing infrastructure in the area of the new line, which has meant that suitable road access for construction vehicles has not been available at every location. Max Bögl still has to provide much more training and services to ensure the success of the project. Special devices such as the ready-mix trucks for the bituminous cement grouting or even the measuring aids for the fine adjustment still have to be nationalised. The same is true for the materials themselves - for example, for the grouting mortar, the Portal cranes lift a bridge girder section onto a heavy duty vehicle. IRJ August 2007 35

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - August 2007

Contents This month News Market News Transit News News Analysis Voith Goes For Maxima Impact First Gauge-Changeable Loco Under Test Power Surge China Feels the Need For Speed A Firm Foundation For Chinese High-Speed Testing Times on the Betuwe Route Tough Tests For Mass Transit Software A Measure of Success Rendezvous Full Contact List Advertisers Index The Last Word

International Railway Journal - August 2007

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