Puente arco de ferrocarril sobre el embalse de Contreras en la línea de alta velocidad Madrid-Levante

Railway arch bridge over the Contreras Reservoir in the Madrid-Levante high-speed railway line

The reinforced concrete arch bridge of a 261 m span, with an upper prestressed concrete deck and a total length of 587.25 m, spans the Contreras Reservoir on the Madrid-Levante high-speed railway line. The mid-span sag is 36.944 m thus determining a span-to-rise ratio of over 6.77 to 1, which is a low rising arch although not excessively so. On the construction completion date, the span between the arch supports was holder of the world record for a concrete railway arch bridge. It was built by free cantilever system using a temporary pier that was dismantled once the two semi-arches had been joined. The deck was built span by span with a scaffolding truss on either side of the arch. Jacks at the crown of the bridge were not used since they would not have improved significantly the global forces in the bridge.