Vale began construction of a viaduct in the Boa Vista neighborhood, in Baixo Guandu-ES, towards Aimorés-MG, as part of its commitments assumed during the renewal of the railway concession in 2020.
The main objective of this work was to optimize traffic and reinforce safety on the Vitória a Minas Railway, providing positive impacts on urban mobility and road infrastructure in the region. This initiative, of great social importance, aimed to improve the living conditions of the local community.
SH played a crucial role in the project, contributing high-quality solutions and equipment over approximately 7 months.
SH’s collaboration was essential to ensure the success and efficiency of the viaduct construction, directly benefiting the population and promoting significant improvements in the region.
The work in question presented a significant challenge related to the shoring of the wings of a viaduct, where the width of the free span reached 14 meters, accompanied by a direct foot of 7.5 meters. This specific project stood out due to the need to maintain continuous circulation of the railway line under the viaduct, characterized by an intense flow of trains.
Unlike conventional approaches that employ pipe bracing and braces supported on the viaduct stringers, this case imposed a peculiar restriction: not allowing the stringer to be used as a support. This condition added additional complexity to the challenge, requiring the search for creative and innovative alternatives to shore up the flaps efficiently and safely.
In summary, the central challenge of this work lay in overcoming a long free span, without compromising the railway operation under the viaduct, while adapting to the specific restrictions related to the spar.
To overcome this limitation, the engineering team turned to a variety of specialized equipment, including SH100 trusses, Modex ® SH, Concreform SH®, circular forms, New Jersey SH, LTT SH and 325 SH stairs. The choice of these elements demonstrated the need for an integrated and personalized approach to meet the specific requirements of the work, ensuring not only structural stability, but also compliance with the restrictions imposed.
The solution found to this dilemma highlighted the engineering team’s ability to face complex challenges and find innovative solutions to ensure the success of the project.
SH is recognized for the quality and efficiency of its services in large works. But we are not the ones saying that. The person saying this is one of the professionals involved, who had a partnership with SH.
During the construction of the Baixo Guandu/ES a 14 meter span over the railway, without the use of a structure supported on the ground, as we could not interrupt the flow of trains on either of the two existing lines.
After much discussion and field visits by the SH Tecnica team, we came up with a modular proposal with support towers and trusses, which proved to be a great solution, as we needed a system that was quick to both assemble and disassemble, as during assembly of the truss modules, the railway operation gave us only two hours of train flow interruption on the two railway lines.
Congratulations to the entire SH team that participated and helped us overcome this great challenge!
