• Location: High Speed Railway Madrid – Barcelona. Roda de Bará-Barcelona Section (Spain) SEE MAP
• Scope of works: Basic Inspection, Special Reports and Rehabilitation Detailed Designs
• Client: Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias, ADIF (Spain)
• Date: 2009 – 2011
• Number of bridges: 191 yearly
• Main feature: Basic Inspection of the High Speed Railway structures

The bridges on the High Speed Railway must be inspected every 3 years, according to ADIF´s Manual “Instrucción sobre Inspecciones Técnicas en los puentes de ferrocarril ITPF-05”.

Torroja Ingeniería S.L was selected in 2009 to carry out the inspections of the bridges located on the Roda de Bará (Tarragona) – Barcelona section of the High Speed Railway Line Madrid – Barcelona (Spain). The structures are not only those viaducts or bridges of the railway line but also existing overpasses that cross over the line or structures inside the Railway area.

The inspections started in 2009 and some special communications equipment was used, in order to allow the inspectors to be permanently in contact with the Maintenance Control Centre, to report or inform about their presence on the railway track.

Each inspection team consisted of one Civil Engineer, one Technical Assistant and one “piloto de vía”, a special worker in charge of safety while inspecting the bridges of a high-speed railway. He/She is the only person who is permitted to ask for access to the railway track and communicate directly with the Control Centre.

As a result of the basic inspections, 8 bridges were singled out due to them having the most damage, and a detailed analysis was needed. So, a second inspection was carried out using two experienced MSc Civil Engineers. A special telescopic camera was used in order to inspect the bearings located on the pier caps, 7 m from ground level.

The results of these inspections showed that there were 4 structures where the bearings had unacceptable deformations or deflections.

A summary of the most noteworthy features of the inspections are presented below:

191 structures were inspected annually

32 continuous bridges with an overall length greater than 50 m

1 simply supported bridge with an overall length greater than 50 m, and a vertical clearance more than 10 m.

4 simply supported bridges with an overall length greater than 50 m, and a vertical clearance less than 10 m.

70 simply supported bridges with an overall length from 6 to 50 m

2 structures crossing under the railway track

53 structures crossing over the railway track

29 communication towers GSM-R