Guadarrama Tunnels

The Guadarrama Tunnels are one of the most significant railway projects in Spain’s high-speed rail network and a strategic piece of infrastructure on the Madrid–Valladolid AVE line. The project made it possible to overcome the natural barrier of the Sierra de Guadarrama by constructing two parallel single-track tunnels with a total length of 28.37 kilometres, making it, at the time of its construction, one of the longest railway tunnels in Europe

ERSIGROUP played a key role in the project by designing, manufacturing and supplying the reinforcement for the prefabricated segments that form the structural lining of the tunnels. This technical collaboration enabled the optimisation of the initial reinforcement plans, replacing traditional solutions with industrialised electro-welded reinforcement and specially designed reinforcements to improve productivity without compromising the mechanical performance specified in the project

The industrialisation of the processes made it possible to achieve production rates of up to 280 segments per day, equivalent to 40 complete rings per day, significantly reducing construction times. The design adopted also facilitated the storage, transport and assembly of the components, minimising deformation and optimising the logistics of a project of extraordinary scale

Drawing on its experience in large-scale railway infrastructure projects, ERSIGROUP played a key role in a project to connect Madrid with northern and north-western Spain, providing industrialised steelwork solutions that improved construction efficiency and the final quality of the infrastructure

KEY MILESTONES

• Two parallel railway tunnels, 28.37 km in length
• One of the longest railway tunnels in Europe at the time
• Production of up to 280 segments per day
• Installation of 18,000 lining rings
• Optimisation of reinforcement using industrialised electro-welded reinforcement
• Key infrastructure for the high-speed link between Madrid and northern Spain