Naples-Bari Railway Line (Apice-Orsara Section)
WORK DETAILS.
The company HIRPINIA AV has entrusted ASACERT with the task of carrying out the activity of In-process technical control in relation to the works for the construction of the Naples – Bari Railway Line consisting of the doubling of the Apice – Orsara section, I Functional Lot Apice – Hirpinia between progressive pk 0+310 and pk 18+713.205 (coinciding with Km 88+916.50 of the LS).
The Hirpinia – Orsara section is one of the most important lots on the Naples – Bari route. The tunnel route, about 25 kilometers, will complete the connection between the future Hirpinia station, in Campania territory, and Orsara station, in Puglia territory, with benefits in terms of traffic capacity and reduced travel time for passenger and freight trains.
The Apice – Hirpinia rail route is part of the broader scope of upgrading and enhancement of the Rome – Naples – Bari rail route aimed at meeting the priority need to improvement of internal connections of the South, with the aim of establishing a network of services in order to Optimize trade, cultural and tourism exchange between different cities and related areas.
From a functional and structural point of view, the construction of the Naples-Bari high-capacity railway, together with the activation of the Rome-Naples high-speed railway system, will promote the integration of the railway infrastructure of the South-East with the Northern Connecting Routes of the country and with Europe, supporting the socio-economic development of the South, reconnecting two areas, Campania and Puglia, which alone account for more than 40% of southern production.
The redevelopment and development of the Rome/Naples-Bari route envisages works to double the single-track railway sections and variants to the current scenarios by pursuing the choice of the best solutions that guarantee the speeding up of connections and the increase of the generalized offer of the railway service, elevating the accessibility to the same service in the crossed areas. The project refers to the first functional lot Apice – Hirpinia of the Apice – Orsara di Puglia section and is distinguished by an intermediate (1st phase) and a future (2nd phase) scenario. The total length of the design line is approximately L=18722 m, the design speed is 200 km/h, and the maximum longitudinal slope adopted is 12 ‰.
The first phase of the project relates to the antenna configuration of the Hirpinia-Apice line, when the new running tracks come to rest at the Hirpinia station and the movement to and from Bari of trains from Naples still takes place on the existing CasertaFoggia line for the Foggia-Apice section via a junction connecting the new project tracks with the historic line in the area of the existing Apice stop. The beginning of the 1st phase is in the new Hirpinia station near the trunk of the Foggia side shunting shaft related to the maintenance post included in the station itself, the end instead is near the existing Apice stop on the existing tracks at the tunnel exit at pk 88+916.50. The project includes 2nd phase accommodations for the Hirpinia station and the new Apice stop.
SERVICE
ASACERT will carry out the service of technical control during construction for the purpose of expressing an assessment of the stability and mechanical strength of structural elements, including embankments, intended as prevention of total or partial ruin of the work and serious construction defects, with reference to parts of the work intended by its nature to be long-lasting, provided that they result from defect in construction or error in the executive design.
ASACERT experts will also check the durability, maintainability and service life of the works’ waterproofing.