【正文】
ION A railway bridge was constructed in Woerden as part of the track expansion of theNetherlands Railways. More trains will be run, the running speeds will be increased and thepossibility of delays must be reduced. In order to make this possible, many line sections mustbe fourtrack and trains must be able to cross each other at different levels. This paper examines the flyover in Woerden. 2. SITUATION AND REQUIREMENTS The flyover in Woerden must bridge the following elements: two existing tracks。 two future tracks。 an underpass for all traffic. The subsoil exhibits a great variation in pressibility. The forecast for settlement after 30years for the adjacent track bed on one side is about m and on the other side about 3 m. To limit settlement, and due to the lack of space for access, the construction height of thebridge must be as low as possible. The existing tracks and the underpass must remain in operation during the construction. Theflow capacity of the polder drainage pool may not be restricted. 3. GENERAL DESCRIPTION The total length of the viaduct is m, prising six sections (fig. 1). Section I crosses the underpass and has a length of m. The two intermediate supports aresituated immediately adjacent to the concrete casing of the underpass, setting the spans at m, 35 m and m. Sections II to V have a length of m and each consists of two spans of m. Thelengths and spans were determined by the remaining space between sections I and VI and costoptimisation. Section II crosses the polder drainage pool. Section VI, with a length of 167 m, crosses the two existing and the two future tracks. Thespans range between and m, with the supports staggered under the side beams. Allbridges have been made from prestressed concrete. To limit the construction height, it was decided to employ a Ushaped crosssection (fig. 2). The track floor lies low between the two loadbearing perimeter beams with a breadth of . The height of the beams is m for the small spans and m for the larger. Theappearance of a gradual transition from low to high beams is caused by walls that increase inheight at the ends of the low beams, connecting to the high beams. The track construction consists of a continuous ballast bed. Only for the transition fromsection VI to the track bed are two pensation welds used in the rails to absorb changes inlength due to temperature shifts. At the other joins between the bridge sections the rails run continuously through. The lack of space at the site means that the crossing angle with the tracks that are to be newlylaid is only 10 degrees. In addition, points are projected to be positioned in the tracks passing underneath, so that no columns can be located between the new tracks. For such situations, ‘p