353_2006_-_Bearings_for_the_High_Speed_Railways.pdf

Sixth World Congress on Joints, Bearings and Seismic Systems for Concrete Structures Halifax (Canada), 17-21 September 2006 BEARING SYSTEMS FOR HIGH SPEED RAILWAY BRIDGES Agostino Marioni Biography: Agostino Marioni, born in Casteggio, Italy in 1943, graduated in Civil Engineering at “Politecnico di Milano” in 1966. Since 1970 he is collaborating with the Company ALGA of which he became Chairman on 1985. ALGA has worked in the field of structural engineering for more than 60 years and is primarily known in most countries of the world in the area of bridge bearings, road expansion j oints, antiseismic devices and post-tensioning systems. He is the Chairman of CEN TC 167, the European commission for the standardization of structural bearings. . ABSTRACT High speed railways will be one of the most important challenges for the structural engineers of the third millennium and the aspect of the structural bearings has an important impact on the design of the structures. The bridges for the high speed railways, even if their static scheme is often very simple, are peculiar structures where the interactions between ballast, rail and bearings play a fundamental role. An important aspect of the bearings for high speed railways, frequently requiring special solutions, is also the high level of the horizontal loads that are due to braking and traction forces and in many 1 cases to the earthquake. In some cases, for instance high level of earthquake, also uplift forces shall be considered. The author, currently involved in the design and supply of the structural bearings for the largest high speed rail proj ects in t