WINNER

Gautrain

Gautrain Rapid Rail Link
Gauteng Province, South Africa

With Gauteng Province’s growth limited by congested highways and lack of public transportation, the South African government realized that it needed to create new infrastructure conducive to growth. Through a consortium of public and private partnerships, the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link will be a modern railway that links Tshwane to Johannesburg and Sandton to ORTIA International Airport. Eleven stations will be linked by 80 kilometers of rail with speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour.

All initial designs and collaboration was conducted on ProjectWise. For the tendering process, a unique customized solution was introduced with five levels of security. Redundancy planning and systems addressed risks of disasters and errors, and all members of the project team were given training and expected to use the system.

Read more about Gautrain and their Be Award win

FINALIST

Bernard Ingenieure ZT GmbH

A New High-Speed Railway Line in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria
Wien, Hall im Tirol, Austria

This 640-kilometer railway line is located on a 1,000-meter high plateau in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, approximately 140 kilometers from the coast line. Although the area along this new track is currently not densely populated, development along this corridor is critical from a mobility and economic perspective. In fact, to support the development, a city named Boughzoul will be founded for 250,000 residents.

The project tasks for a consortium of Bernard and Obermeyer engineers range from preliminary design studies and bid invitations to all geotechnical and topographical components. The deliverables include track design, signaling, design of railway stations, operating program, bridge design for rail and road, and realignment of existing roads. Bentley Rail Track was used to design a 640- kilometer stretch of the new railway line.

FINALIST

Sacyr Vallehermoso

High-Speed Train Arrival
Barcelona, Spain

This high-speed rail link will be used by 6.1 million passengers in 2008 and up to 7.8 million by 2011, cutting the travel time between Madrid and Barcelona by 50 percent. The 621-kilometer high-speed line arrival means the conclusion of one of the most important high-speed lines in Spain and the conclusion of the main axis between Spain and France on the Spanish side.

Bentley Rail Track played a crucial role in accommodating existing railway traffic and maintaining the railway operation system while construction progressed. The geometry calculation capacity and flexibility of Bentley Rail Track analyzed the best geometric solution for temporary and final track and turnout locations.

Return to the 2008 Be Awards