- ACCIONA
- Press room
- In depth
- 2013
- September
- Urban transport infras...
Urban transport infrastructure
09/05/2013ACCIONA is a leading company in the design, construction and commissioning of transport infrastructure in cities. Throughout its history, the Company has developed innovative, sustainable and responsible solutions adapted to specific cases, both in Spain and worldwide.
ACCIONA is a leading company in the design, construction and commissioning of transport infrastructure in cities. Throughout its history, the Company has developed innovative, sustainable and responsible solutions adapted to specific cases, both in Spain and worldwide.
ACCIONA'S contribution to the development of metropolitan transport infrastructure has been crucial over the past two decades. From sections of underground metro lines, where the Company has carried out some of the technically most complex tunneling in built-up areas, to surface tramways. These works are performed as always to the highest standards with regard to quality, coordination, safety and respect for the environment. They are testament to the values for which ACCIONA stands out - as a reliable, innovative and sustainable brand.
Metros
ACCIONA's experience in the construction of metro lines to the suburbs is backed up by a long and successful history of project execution in top Spanish and foreign cities - it has carried out many large-scale projects in recent years.
In Spain, the highlight has been its contribution to the expansion of the Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao underground networks. These are cities where the urban environment, with their dense built-up areas, always represents a complex challenge.
ACCIONA has negotiated this complexity on many occasions through the use of advanced construction methods for tunnels and stations, such as those employed on the extensions of Madrid metro lines 2, 7, 8 and 9. For Barcelona, the 2002 expansion of line 9 was a world first. Thanks to the EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and its then-record 12.09-meter bore, ACCIONA was able to build the first tunnel to include both tracks of trains travelling in opposite directions. Also, with the extension of line 5, one of the deepest stations in Spain was built at Teixonera, with two vertical shafts of 31 and 69 meters.
Thanks to its international expansion, the Company could also build the Medellin metro in Colombia, between 1985 and 1997, a turnkey project. It also designed, built and commissioned, in 1997, the San Juan metro in Puerto Rico, 65% of which runs across viaducts.
MADRID METRO. METRONORTE LINE. SECTIONS 1C, 2A AND
1B
This project was built using two EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) of 9.4m bore to excavate tunnels of 4.473km and 3.831km respectively, as well as constructing six stations using concrete facing techniques, 13 emergency exits and five ventilation and pumping stations. It was completed in 2007.
MADRID METRO. LINE 8. SECTION: MAR DE
CRISTAL-NUEVOS MINISTERIOS
This was partly performed by excavating 3.375km with an EPB TBM of 9.44m bore and 1.925km using the conventional Belgian tunneling method. Two stations were built, the most important of which was the Nuevos Ministerios interchange.
URBAN RAILWAY IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
Design and construction project for the Río Bayamón, Medical Center, Villa Nevárez and Hato Rey section for which a 3.65km, single-track viaduct was built, as well as a double-track viaduct of 4.947km, and 3.735km of ballast track, eight raised stations and another two at street level.
MADRID METRO. LINE 2. SECTION: LA
ELIPA-LAS ROSAS
Length: 3.817km executed using a 9.4m-bore EPB TBM. It was also necessary to excavate, through conventional means, 259 m of one section of a tunnel below the M-40 motorway that separates both areas, and to build four stations where earth consolidation work was needed to avoid disturbances to buildings above.
MADRID METRO. LINE 7. SECTION:
CANAL-VALDEZARZA
Length: 4.65km, of which 3.435km corresponded to a 9.38m-bore tunnel excavated with an EPB TBM. Four stops were built, the highlight of which is the Guzmán el Bueno cavern station, constructed using the German method of excavating tunnels, completely integrated with the city below a dense built-up area.
BILBAO METRO. LINE 2. SECTION:
URBINAGA-SESTAO
Between 2001 and 2004, the extension of line 2 was carried out over a 920m section, including the building of the 108m-long Sestao cavern station below the Gran Vía. The work was executed using the NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) philosophy, excavating rock via mechanical means in a built-up area, with various services affected and the aim of maximizing integration in the city.
BARCELONA
METRO. LINE 5. SECTION: HORTA-VALL D´HEBRON
ACCIONA carried out the extension of Barcelona Metro line 5, involving 2.6 km of new route, three stations and a 300m-long train depot. Conventional tunnel excavation methods were used in all the underground works in Barcelona's complex urban environment
BARCELONA
METRO. LINE 9. SECTION: LOGISTICS PARK-UNIVERSITY ZONE
2002 saw ACCIONA use the EPB TBM, with a record 12.09m bore, to perform works on this section of Metro line 9. The works consisted of boring two tunnels, of 4.6km and 6.15km length, at great depth, between the different stations of the section.
MADRID
METRO. METROSUR LINE
Metrosur is a circular line serving five suburban centers in the south of Madrid. ACCIONA took part in building a 2.83km tunnel using a 9.36m-bore EPB TBM.
VALENCIA METRO. LINE 5. SECTION:
ALAMEDA-AVINGUDA
In 1992, two parallel tunnels were built of 4.6km each, excavated using a 6.52m-diameter EPB TBM. This was the first time foam was used for soil conditioning in Spain on this kind of excavation.
MADRID METRO. LINE 9 EXTENSION. TRAIN TO
ARGANDA
Length: 18.3km. Double track, four stations, each with park-and-ride of up to 1,000 car park spaces.
MEDELLIN METRO, COLOMBIA
Two lines were built, the first of 23.22km. Of these, 16.72km were at ground level and 6.5km over viaduct. Of the 19 stations, 11 were at ground and 8 of raised level. The second line was of 5.58km, of which 4.41km runs over viaduct and 1.17km at street level, with five stations raised and one at ground level.
Tramways
Tramways have become an efficient and sustainable solution for cities. ACCIONA has provided such infrastructure in recent years for cities where these networks have assumed symbolic importance.
ACCIONA constructed 30 km of tramways in two projects in Barcelona: TRAMBAIX, uniting the city with L'Hospitalet and Baix Llobregat, and; TRAMBESÓS, serving the southeastern quarter.
In Madrid's Parla district, ACCIONA has built 16 stops, two of which act as modal interchanges with the Renfe wider city train network, Cercanías, over 9.5km. The Madrid suburb has also created an extensive pedestrian precinct in the town center and rebuilt all the area around the tramway route.
One of the most representative milestones in innovation and sustainability was reached in the execution of the Granada tramway project. Here, the Company began to implement its new concrete-embedded slab tracks, using a unique rubber mix of ground, end-of-Life (EOL) tires and polymer matrix resin. The method, which has more advantages than traditional ways, is another example of ACCIONA's support for innovation and sustainable development working hand-in-hand.
BARCELONA
TRAMWAY
ACCIONA has completed two large projects within the framework of the urban railway in Barcelona: TRAMBAIX and TRAMBESÓS. The TRAMBAIX is 15.8km long and divides into a main axis and two branches, forming a series of three lines with a total of 30 stops. The TRAMBESÓS serves the south-east part of Barcelona, links with various metro stations on lines 1, 2 and 4, as well as the Renfe train, and bus, stations. It is 14km long and divides into two axes overlapping on certain sections, forming two lines with a total of 29 stops.
GRANADA TRAMWAY
ACCIONA constructed the final part of this Southern Spanish city's tramway route, a section of 2.8km, of which 1.9km is double and the rest single track. The line has three stops and is 800m long. ACCIONA installed its Spanish system of concrete-embedded slab track, using the mix of rubber from ground disused tires with polymer matrix resin and which has many advantages over the traditional method.
PARLA TRAMWAY
Parla tramway has a carousel structure, 9.5km in length, with 16 stops, each at about 500m, two of which serve as modal interchanges with Renfe's Cercanías train network.
MURCIA TRAMWAY
This is a light railway network which connects the center of Murcia (eastern Spain) with the northern end of the city. ACCIONA constructed the experimental, 2km, standard gauge section (part of line 1) and its four stops. It opened in May 2007.
ZARAGOZA TRAMWAY
The works at this central Spanish city were divided into two phases: the first between Valdespartera and Gran Vía, and the second between Gran Vía and Goya Park, covering a total of 12.8km in length and with 25 stops.
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE TRAMWAY
ACCIONA built the second section of line 1 of this 8km light railway, which runs between the towns of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna (Canary Islands).
Tunnel Boring Machine Control Center
ACCIONA's new TBM control center (CCT) was borne out of the wish to develop a platform for remote storage and monitoring of heavy machinery data - in order to reduce costs and manufacturer dependency. The center works by processing, in real time, the huge quantities of data gathered by TBM sensors through the InSQL data acquisition system. This center is in this way more efficient and can predict anomalies in the process, vitally important in preventing risk situations during tunnel construction. The remote machinery control systems also enable faults to be repaired from the center and TBM work to be simulated in advance, as well as real-time images of work in progress.
Quito Metro
ACCIONA Infrastructure is to build two important interchanges for the new Quito metro in Ecuador. In the immediate vicinity of Sucre international airport, and as part of a project to renovate urban areas, the Company is to build El Labrador station, a ground level interchange that will link up Metro line 1 with the rest of the capital's transport system, Trolleybus and the Carapungo-Jipalpa Express. The station is to be constructed using the cut-and-cover method, where a shaft is first drilled down to enable access for the TBM. The Magdalena intermodal station is to be built using the same procedure, but in a location that nestles into the urban fabric of the area, and which will have three accesses.
View ACCIONA Social Networks