At the end of last year, INACCÉS completed the installation of the first 9,000 KJ dynamic barrier in a gallery set up in the Iberian Peninsula. The location of the barrier in question was by the Lleida – La Pobla de Segur traint tracks through the Terradets Gorge, formed by the La Noguera Pallaresa River.
The promoter of the works was Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and the project was designed by the Institut Cartografic i Geològic de Catalunya to improve the protection of this section of track. The project consisted of replacing an existing 5,000 KJ dynamic barrier with a new 350 m2 RB 9000 model made up of 6 posts of 7 meters long and separated 10 m from each other.
Due to the difficulty of access to the work site and the intention of not stopping the railway service of the Lleida – La Pobla de Segur line, the use of a helicopter was required as an auxiliary means for the assembly of the barriers. This service was carried out by the company Helitrans Pyrinees, a leader company in the field of helicopter work.
The first weeks of work consisted of drilling, with a hung skid,of the bases of the six posts and the anchoring points for the slings that held the tips of the barrier posts. The drilling consisted of a total of 152 meters of drilling in the wall at a height of approximately 10 meters above the railway.
Right after, the construction of the concrete plinths that would hold the bases with the pins of the posts continued.
After 4 weeks of work, the day arrived for the placement of the posts and the mesh panels of the barriers by helicopter. These works were carried out with 6 operators on the wall to receive the already slinged posts and panels. In total, 15 material transports were carried out, with loads of up to 800 kg. The transports were carried out with 23m slings with an electric hook at the end.
Once the structure was in position and provisionally attached to the wall, work continued on tensioning the cables and placing the mesh panel between the posts. Once this procedure was completed and its correct installation certified by Bianchini Ingeniero Maccaferri, work began on the removal of the old barrier that was located just below the new one.
