Road and Rail Infrastructures

Code:

M.EC021

Acronym:

IRF

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Geotechnics

Instance: 2023/2024 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Civil Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M.EC	5	Syllabus	1	-	6	45,5

Teaching language

Portuguese and english
Obs.: Portugues e Ingles

Objectives

Provide methodologies and tools for:      
- the characterization of the materials used in pavement and railway embankments;     
 - the characterization of the pavement materials;   
 - the design  of road and railway platforms;      
- the design of flexible and rigid road pavements;      
- the design of the elements that make up the railways.

Present inspection and monitoring techniques for road and railway platforms, pavements and railways.

Learning outcomes and competences

Knowledge
The student knows the materials for the embankments of pavements and railways and the respective methods for its characterization and classification; knows the pavement materials and the elements of the railways tracks; knows inspection and monitoring techniques of road and railway platforms, pavements and railways.

Comprehension: The student understands the structural behavior of pavements and railways in view of the respective demands; identifies the properties that characterize road-rail infrastructure materials; recognizes different railway systems and their constituent elements.

Application: The student is able to desig road and railway platforms, design road pavements and the elements of the railways.

Analysis: The student interprets the behavior of road and railway pavements and evaluates solutions.

Communication and teamwork: The student produces written documents and orally presents work/case studies.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Road and railway platforms: structural and functional requirements of landfills for transport infrastructure: pavement bed, track bed and infrastructure support layers: materials, design, conditions for placing on site and compaction, characterization of materials and in situ layers, soil treatment, equipment.

Flexible and rigid road pavements: materials, traffic, damage criteria, design, functional and structural observation techniques.

Railtrack systems:  elements of the track; track and vehicle models; dynamic behavior of the railway; design of the track elements; inspection and evaluation of the track geometric quality. maintenance techniques.

Mandatory literature

SETRA- LCPC; Réalisation de remblais et des couches de forme. vol 1 e 2, 2000. ISBN:
SETRA-LCPC ; Traitement des sols à la chaux et/ou aux liants hydrauliques - Application à la réalisation des remblais et des couches de forme. , 2000. ISBN: ISBN: 2-7208-3810-1
Manuel António de Matos Fernandes; Analysis and design of geotechnical structures. ISBN: 978-0-367-02663-9
Indraratna, B.; Salim, W; Rujikiatkamjorn, C. ; Advanced rail geotechnology – ballasted track., 2011. ISBN: 97804156695573
Ernest T. Selig; Track geotechnology and substructure management. ISBN: 0-7277-2013-9
Cecília Maria Nogueira Alvarenga Santos do Vale; Comportamento estrutural de pavimentos rodoviários flexíveis
Fernando E. Ferreira Branco; Pavimentos rodoviários. ISBN: 972-40-2648-5
Dallas N. Little; Modeling and design of flexible pavements and materials. ISBN: 978-3-319-58443-0
Eduardo Manuel Cabrita Fortunato; Renovação de plataformas ferroviárias. ISBN: 972-49-2056-9
Coenraad Esveld; Modern railway track. ISBN: 90-800324-3-3
Cecília Maria Nogueira Alvarenga Santos do Vale; Influência da qualidade dos sistemas ferroviários no comportamento dinâmico e no planeamento da m
Li, D.; Hyslip, J.; Sussmann, T.; Chrismer, S; Railway Geotechnics, 2016. ISBN: ISBN: 13: 978-1-4822-8880-3
Indraratna, B.; Ngo, T.; Ballast Railroad Design: SMART-UOW Approach., 2019. ISBN: 978-1-138-58703-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

Teaching methodologies

The teaching of this curricular unit will be done by lectures, guided readings, resolution of exercises / practical work. 

Demonstration of the coherence of the teaching methodologies with the learning objectives of the curricular unit

 

The scientific and technical knowledge will be developed, at the beginning of each subject to be addressed, in lectures. In these sessions, it is intended to develop students' competences and sensitize them to the importance of the themes in current real context.

The accomplishment of exercises / practical work constitute strategies to update the objectives defined for the UC and to the understanding of the themes under study. The practical work allows the sharing of knowledge among students, the search for external information and, therefore, contact with reality. Their subsequent presentation to the group and their defense enhances the capacity for critical analysis.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	16,50
Estudo autónomo	75,00
Frequência das aulas	45,50
Trabalho escrito	25,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

The student is approved if his final grade is equal to or higher than 9.5 out of 20.

Calculation formula of final grade

CF = 0.7 EX + 0.3 TP

where: CF - final classification; TP - practical work; EX - final exam

Observations