Feasibility Studies and Design of High-Speed Railway (TGV) Projects in Portugal

Abstract

Portugal is starting a large program of high-speed train routes connecting the main cities in the country and these cities to central Europe throughout Spain. The country has a very wide range of lithological types and the main routes cross some important hilly zones. These facts, together with the severe geometric restrictions associated with the High- Speed Trains, attach an important role to Engineering Geology both at the Feasibility stage and at the Design stage of the projects. The paper illustrates this important role with exam- ples of studies currently under way in Portugal.