Design and construction management for the new railway link within the Vado Ligure railway infrastructure (SV).

Project objective

The objective of the project was to define a new alignment for the existing rail spur, with a more efficient route (overall length 1,110 m) capable of reducing impacts in terms of noise and interferences with the urban road network, also in view of the increase in port traffic.

Main works

Cut-and-cover tunnel
The cut-and-cover railway tunnel is 146 m long and has a rectangular reinforced-concrete cross-section of 7.00×7.00 m, with 0.75 m thick walls.
Inside the tunnel, two side service walkways 1.10 m wide are provided, together with a suitable ballast bed on which the track structure is laid.
For the excavation required for tunnel construction, an anchored retaining wall with multiple anchor levels was adopted to safeguard the adjacent buildings; the wall consists of 1.00 m diameter reinforced-concrete bored piles with 1.15 m spacing.

Bridge over the Segno stream
The bridge is a reinforced-concrete structure with two spans of 18.92 m, on a straight axis.
The railway deck consists of a superstructure with extradosed parabolic side girders forming a U-shaped cross-section of variable depth.
The piers have a rectangular cross-section, with a height of 4.00 m above the foundation.
Construction involved in-situ assembly of three precast elements (side elements and base slab), each weighing approximately 120 t, placed by crane on temporary bearings.
After positioning, the elements were connected by in-situ concrete infill pours; after an adequate curing period, the deck was transferred onto the permanent bearings using a hydraulic system.
Indirect foundations were adopted, consisting of reinforced-concrete piles with a diameter of 80 cm.