Page 453 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Evolution of the role of the Consultant Engineer in High-speed Railway Projects along the last
25 years, in Spain

highlight the work of revising the Spanish design standards to adapt them to the maximum
speed of 360 km/h, taking into account the important design constraints derived from
the low temperatures in Poland. These constraints forced to modify the existing solutions
previously applied in Spain and to review, among other aspects, the design of the track bed
layers, analyzing that the maximum stresses for each element were below the allowable
limits and provided the necessary frost protection.
Currently, the Spanish engineering consultancy is also involved in the development of the
first High-speed line in Sweden, in the East Link project, called Ostlanken in Swedish. This
line has been designed to achieve operating speeds up to 320 km/h.
In addition, it should be noted that the Ostlanken project is being fully developed by
implementing the BIM level 2 methodology in collaboration with Swedish designers,
achieving a high degree of integration of all the technical specialties that are participating
in the development of the project.

Within this international export of the Spanish Consultancy in the field of civil engineering,
it is also worth mentioning the strong Spanish presence in the design of the Haramain High-
speed Line in Saudi Arabia, the design of HS2 in the UK and participation in the High-speed
line of California, in the United States. In this last project, the design of multicontinuous
viaducts has been chosen, taking advantage of the best features of using the hyperstatic
continuous viaducts, traditionally used in Spanish High-speed lines, which include the
execution of a fixed point in one of the stirrups to avoid that there were important
longitudinal stresses in the piles, what allows them to be slender, and secondly, also allows
the reduction of the deck thickness.
On the other hand, multicontinuous viaducts avoid the main disadvantages associated
with the design of long continuous viaducts, such as the need to execute expansion joints
that present great movements and that constitute weak points of the line that demand a
continuous and meticulous maintenance.

4. Conclusions

Throughout this article it has been developed a historical description of the main advances
that the Consultancy has experienced in the field of civil engineering, during the last 25
years, since the implementation of the High-speed line between Madrid and Seville, going
from the implementation of computer science to the introduction of modern working models
such as the BIM methodology or the implementation of advanced calculation tools, such as
those that incorporate the use of genetic algorithms to find the best solutions for the rail
alignment.

These advances have been motivated by the important constraints existing in the Spanish
territory, which have forced the consultant to achieve high levels of technical excellence,
positioning Spanish engineering as a leader in the field of High-speed lines design, in the
international scene.
This position has been evident with the development of international projects of great
relevance that have been described throughout the previous points, highlighting in each of
them the main improvements or advances provided by Spanish engineering.

Finally, the important work carried out in Spain regarding to the signaling systems has been
mentioned, thus concluding the description of the main strengths that has been consolidated
by Spanish engineering during the process of continuous evolution experienced in the last
25 years.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 451