Project

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGHSPEED VIADUCT OVER ALMONTE RIVER. SPAIN

CLIENT ADIF
SERVICE Technical assistance in structures
DATE 2013-2016
LOCATION Caceres, Spain
ARCHITECTS ARENAS Y ASOCIADOS
CONTRACTOR FCC - CONDURIL

This incredibly large bridge is located in the high-speed railway line Madrid-Extremadura, (section Garrovillas reservoir), over the river Almonte. Its total length is 996m and it has a main span of 384m. On the date of its construction, the bridge held the world record for ‘concrete arch with the longest span’ within the category of high-speed railway bridges. The bridge deck consists of 8 spans of 45m each. The spans are supported by the arch, which reaches a height of up to 84m above the water level.

The bridge complexity and the challenges of its construction have motivated the conduction of different studies and analysis. Among these, we may highlight studies dealing with the analysis of the structure’s aeroelasticity phenomena during the different construction phases as well as those related to the construction monitoring process. The instrumentation system was based on two different systems: the north and south arches. Each of them has presented a great number of changing variables over the course of the construction process. It has therefore been a complex process in which a number of devices have been used to measure and collect different data (e.g. survey nails, prisms, topographic targets, clinometers, strain gauges, thermocouples, extensometers and load cells).