ABSTRACT
The project involves the construction of the railbed for a section of high-speed line, in the Pulpí – Vera stretch with 25.7 km, in the Murcia – Almería section. It is part of the Mediterranean railway corridor and will improve the connectivity of Almería. A variable geology is observed with a predominance of Miocene and Pleistocene materials. The lithology is composed of Miocene marls with gypsum lenses and a cover of alteration soils and fills. The railway runs through areas with a significant thickness of soft soils in the embankments R-15, R-17, R-21 and R-33 (glacis deposits with sandy silts, valley deposits with clayey silts) and a zone with anthropic landfill from agricultural activities in the embankment R-14. From this background, high deformability and low strength of soils are mitigated by a wide range of soil improvement techniques. Rigid inclusions are installed with objective to support concrete structures and culverts to prevent structural damages due to excessive settlements. Transitions with non-treated areas are solved by increasing the inclusions spacing, by a soil improvement with surcharge and wick drains or by combining the inclusions with stone columns to match the settlements between the embankment and the treated area (R-14).
