San Joaquin River Viaduct
This viaduct was an integral part of the California High-Speed Rail project. It is a 4,800’ long, 43’ wide, double track structure was designed to carry passenger trains travelling up to 250 mph. Includes a 210-foot arch span over the river, as well as a 1500’ pergola structure carrying the lines over the UP Railroad at an 80 deg skew.
Hemal, an integral part of the design team, performed a rail-structure interaction study to quantify rail stress and differential rotations and displacements at expansion joints and transitions in structure type. This was to ensure track serviceability and reduce the risk of rail break.
Hemal also performed frequency and linear time-history analyses to determine impact factor and vibration magnitudes throughout the structure. This was to ensure that the high-speed trains would not induce excess vibrations through resonance with the structure's primary frequency modes.
Photo: CA HSR
Photo: CA HSR
