ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Acciona Ingeniería developed the detailed design of six railway bridges with a total length of 3090 m. located along Al-Haramain High Speed Railway Line (HSR) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose owner is the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO). This railway line is a worldwide landmark for HSR design due to the climate challenges and foreseen operation peaks. Special seismic parameters from the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) were also taken into account in the design of these six bridges. Since there was no local regulation on HSR design, bridge design for Al-Haramain High Speed Rail (HHR) was carried out in accordance with international best practices and standards as Eurocodes and AASHTO. The scope of the line is improving the access to Makkah, the epicenter of Islam. It will be a connecting path among the three Holly Cities of Islam: Madinah, Jeddah and Makkah and the first milestone to develop a transnational HSR on the GCC region. Four of the six viaducts are designed as post-tensioned concrete box girder with a span by span erection process and the deck of the other two bridges consists of two simply supported post-tensioned precast U-beams.
