Inspection and Capacity Rating of RAHCO Railway Bridges
Inspection and Capacity Rating of RAHCO Railway Bridges
The mandate was to update and complete the railway bridge register to reflect the current condition of all bridges. SYSTRA Canada (formerly CANARAIL) then evaluated the load capacity of all bridges and culverts along the Central and Mwanza Railway Lines to determine the rehabilitation work required to accommodate rolling stock transporting 20- and 40-foot containers between Dar es Salaam and Isaka, with an 18.5-tonne axle load operating at speeds of up to 75 km/h.
DESCRIPTION
The mandate included the following activities:
- Review infrastructure drawings provided by RAHCO,
- Inspect and geolocate over 2,000 bridges and culverts interspersed over 1,000 km of railway line,
- Update and modernize the bridge register as a functional MS Access database,
- Report on the condition of all bridges and culverts and identify all defects requiring urgent action,
- Determine the structural capacity of all structures,
- Provide recommendations on phasing of construction and work packaging,
- Execute detailed engineering design for the rehabilitation of all urgent defects,
- Prepare tender documents for the rehabilitation of all urgent defects,
- Evaluate the downstream work required on the structures to implement 18.5t/axle rolling stock.