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After a year of work, the project group that the company has appointed to study high-speed railways on so-called bridges in the air is now complete. The method is particularly common in China.
Skanska Sweden’s idea of a high-speed railway on overland bridges / pillars. The pillars would average 15 meters high.
Photography: Skanska Sverige AB
– We have studied the Hässleholm-Lund section in detail and the investment is in the same order of magnitude as in the calculation of the Swedish Transport Administration. The big gain lies in the greatly reduced build time, says Gunnar Hagman, CEO of Skanska Sweden.
According to Hagman, the bottom line is that it would work in the Swedish market as well and the company is now entering a phase to launch it publicly in the heated Swedish debate as well.
– We have met with great interest from politics and we have a series of meetings scheduled for the next few weeks, says Gunnar Hagman.
The question Yes Y as Sweden will continue with plans for new high-speed trunk lines on the Stockholm-Gothenburg and Stockholm-Malmö routes which are approaching a turning point.
Two arguments that critics often make are partly the risk of a drastic increase in costs on top of the SEK 230 billion which is the latest estimate by the Swedish Transport Administration, and partly the extremely long planning period and construction. Socio-economic calculations turn negative. The Minister of Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth (S), generally talks about a complete road sometime between 2040 and 2045.
When the investigation called Swedish negotiations came with their final report in 2017, recommending that the tracks be laid in the ground but cast in concrete, the so-called slab track technology. It is more expensive than the traditional one with rails in macadam, coarse gravel, but on the other hand cheaper to maintain. Doing what Japan and China have done for a long time, building the tracks on concrete land bridges, was judged as a technology that was not overly proven for Europe.
An image from December 20, 2017: One of the Swedish negotiators, Catharina Håkansson Boman, presented the final report to the Minister of Infrastructure, Tomas Eneroth (S).
Photo: Henrik Montgomery / TT
When the Swedish Transport Administration last year was tasked with reducing the cost of construction by the government, the authority proposed both to reduce the speed of large pieces to 250 km / h and to place the rails on macadam.
On Sunday, DN was able to reveal that the Swedish Transport Administration will still mention the possibility of switching to the “China method” with land bridges in the report presented to the government on February 28, which presents new alternatives on how the roads are drawn and locate stations.
Gunnar Hagman is the CEO of Skanska Sverige AB.
Photo: Skanska
In parallel with the Swedish Transport Administration, Skanska Sweden has produced an analysis and concludes that the construction group is interested in submitting an offer if the State chooses to invest in the model so far not tested in Sweden.
– Sometimes we have been asked what we think about how railways of this type can be built but we have not had a good enough analysis, so we gave a team the task of seeing if it is possible to do it with a greater degree of prefabrication and industrialization to shorten construction times, says CEO Gunnar Hagman.
– Building for 30-40 years, piece by piece, with traditional technology where trains only circulate up to 250 km / h, does not seem correct to us.
Hagman says that have studied in detail the 59 kilometers of high-speed rail between Hässleholm and Lund that the Swedish Transport Administration is currently planning; Where tracks should be laid on concrete bridges, which parts can pass through tunnels and waterways, and how to connect to stations.
In Skanska’s concept for land bridges, 40 meter long bridge sections are prefabricated, which are laid out in much the same way as contract construction.
Photography: Skanska Sverige AB
Skanska has a collaboration agreement with the Chinese group China Rail International Group and has studied in particular the 120 km Beijing-Shanghai route, completed in three and a half years.
– China has built 3,500 km of high-speed rail in ten years and gained enormous experience, not least developed the necessary special vehicles, says Hagman.
Skanska says that Constructions with concrete overland bridges of about 40 meters in length give a different strength and flexibility than those of steel. On average, the pillars would be 15 meters high. The concept allows trains to run 350-360 km / h, but Skanska has calculated 320 km / h.
– The real thing from an economic point of view is that you have to build faster to take home the profits and if the trains only run at 250 km / h, there will be no alternative to domestic flights. But here I think we can talk about a game changer. When do you get your income back? We believe in nine years of construction plus three years of planning. That’s where the big financial gain lies.
A critical issue for terrestrial technology is the impact of carbon dioxide. The production of cement, the central component of concrete, today generates large amounts of CO2 emissions. Gunnar Hagman from Skanska says that “we believe that climate neutrality can be achieved in this project.”
Refers to that market giant Cementa is planning zero emissions by 2030, among other things based on research that is ongoing at the Rise state foundation in Borås.
– Without that plan, we cannot bear it, but today we can substitute cement for other binders. I also believe that with this type of project, development across the Swedish construction industry can be pushed towards a reduced CO2 impact.
The problem of sound and noise in high-speed trains is complex. Skanska says it can handle the one where the noise is projected upwards rather than to the sides.
Photo: Skanska
Another question mark is noise levels.
– We don’t believe in noticeably louder noise. With this model, the trains would run in the form of a trough or tub where the sound bounces for the most part upwards. The inside of the bowl can be covered with sound absorbing material. Therefore, our assessment is that it would be no worse than with a normal railway where freight trains also run.
Hagman highlights the advantage that land bridges would occupy only 15 percent of the land compared to traditional railways.
But at the same time, with bridges around 15 meters high, do the sight lines also break? Should they be visible in the natural and cultural environment?
– Yes, it will clearly be an issue to consider. But there are other advantages to not becoming a barrier in nature.
