Renovation of the railway culvert,
Kraków Płaszów,
Poland
Renovation of the railway culvert at Kraków-Płaszów station
Uponor Infra Sp. z o.o. supplied Weholite PEHD DN3000 SN8 with pipes for the renovation of a culvert (originally a two-span vaulted brick bridge on stone and brick supports over a watercourse) under railway line 91 (E30) near the Kraków Płaszów station. The work was carried out by Strabag Sp. z o.o. as part of the task entitled “Works on the E 30 railway line on the Kraków Główny Towarowy - Rudzice section and the addition of the agglomeration line tracks. SECTION 5 – Kraków Płaszów station".
Renovation in hard-to-reach terrain
The renovated building, measuring 5.66m x 3.60m, had a brick structure and was in need of comprehensive restoration due to its inadequate insulation, severe leaks, seepage, mould and fungal efflorescence and a corroded and cracked vault. After a reconstruction probably carried out in the inter-war or early post-war period, it served as a pass-through chamber for the city's rainwater drainage system, crossing the railway tracks towards the Bagry reservoir. The railway line just above the culvert has seven pairs of tracks. The length of Weholite DN3000 pipes supplied for the refurbishment in L=10m sections was 40m in total, and they were joined by the Uponor Infra service team using extrusion welding technology. The free space between the old structure and the new PEHD pipe was injected with fill of suitable strength to stabilise the new culvert.
Thanks to the efficient execution of the work, as well as the properly coordinated delivery of Weholite pipes and the service work carried out by Uponor Infra, the facility has been adapted to its intended function of acting as a large cross-section rainwater sewer section, routing rainwater across the track system. The task was not easy due to, among other things, the rather difficult terrain, the need to ensure the continuity of rail traffic, the limited installation space for the new pipes, the work at considerable depth and the need to ensure the by-pass flow of incoming rainwater. Despite many restrictions and limitations, Weholite pipe technology has once again proven to be reliable and the most optimal of many others available on the market, and the strategic and responsible facility has been given a “second life” from a technical point of view.
