Project Spotlight: Konya Highspeed Railway Culvert Project

By: ViaCon Turkey

After realizing that an existing reinforced concrete culver was severely undersized, it was decided that a new, larger culvert needed to be installed at the 172nd KM of the Ankara-Konya High Speed Trail line in Konya, Turkey. While this sounds like an everyday project, engineers and construction crews had to plan out every tiny detail of the construction with the utmost care as the train lines were still operational and could not be shut down for any length of time. After reviewing the options it was decided that a corrugated steel structural plate culvert was the best match for the job not only for it’s quick turn around time but it’s strength and resiliency.

The new culvert was constructed using a 2 part construction plan. For the 1st phase of construction, the rail traffic was rerouted to a single side of the railway while the area was excavated with sheet pile shoring. Construction of the culvert was able to be completed simultaneously during the excavation phase so as to save time. In order to execute the 2 phases of construction, 2 separate culvert pipes were constructed on site. The 2nd phase of construction began as soon as the culvert construction was completed. Without a moment to spare crews were able to slide the new culverts in place, piece the 2 parts together, finish backfilling the area and replacing the recently displaced rails. During this entire time the rail line continued to be 100% operational with no disruption in either direction. All manufacturing and installation took place over 4 days.

A grand total of 25 tons of steel were used during this project. The culvert was inspected and passed under the EuroCode LM71 for Train Loads and boasts an impressive seismic resistance for the Peak Ground Acceleration of the train of 0.239g at 3m of ground cover. This new culvert is expected to last 100 or more years due to the strength and thickness of the coatings added to the steel during construction.