The needs and possibilities of technical renovation of underground railway infrastructure

This presentation will address issues related to the maintenance, modernization, and restoration of the technical condition of existing underground infrastructure components located along railway lines situated on embankments. Particular attention will be devoted to culverts, utility tunnels, and drainage systems, whose technical condition is of significant importance for the safety, durability, and operational reliability of railway infrastructure.
Currently, railway lines in Poland are undergoing intensive modernization, which creates a need for modern renovation technologies that allow work to be carried out quickly, effectively, and with as little interference as possible with the existing track layout and the railway line’s surroundings. In this context, trenchless technologies take on particular importance, including the CIPP method, which involves the rehabilitation of underground conduits and structures by installing a new, watertight, and durable liner inside the existing structure.
The use of CIPP technology enables the restoration of the required operational and structural parameters of culverts, utility tunnels, and drainage systems without the need for extensive earthwork.
This minimizes the need to disturb the ballast and subgrade, and also reduces the risk of disruptions to rail traffic. Another significant advantage of this technology is the substantial reduction in project completion time compared to traditional methods, which is particularly important on active or modernized railway lines.
The expert will point out that the use of trenchless technologies in the renovation of underground railway infrastructure can serve as a rational complement to comprehensive modernization programs. It allows for the effective use of existing structures, reduces costs and the inconvenience of construction work, improves the durability of the infrastructure, and enhances the safety of railway operations. The implementation of such solutions aligns with the current technical and organizational needs of the Polish railway sector, which are focused on a modern, durable, and efficiently modernized transport infrastructure.

Head of the Department of Roads and Bridges at the University of Zielona Góra. He specializes in the fatigue, durability, maintenance, and inspection of bridges and culverts, including soil-coating structures. For many years, he has conducted research on these structures. In recent years, he has also been more extensively involved in issues related to road and bridge drainage, as well as technical problems concerning wildlife crossings in transportation infrastructure. For many years, he has also been active in the implementation of modern materials and technologies in road and bridge construction in our country. As part of this work, he has conducted numerous laboratory and field studies and led dozens of training sessions on the subject. The result of these long-standing efforts is a dozen or so recommendations and specifications generally applicable in road and bridge engineering practice, developed with his participation, most often under his direction. His achievements also include the implementation of modern concrete testing methods in transportation infrastructure.
As part of his postdoctoral thesis, he developed a method for estimating the impact of corrosion on the load-bearing capacity of steel bridges, for which he received an award from the Minister of Infrastructure. He is the author or co-author of over 150 publications and several monographs. He served two terms as a member of the Building Materials Section of the Committee on Civil and Hydraulic Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Since 1992, he has been a member of Standardization Problem Commission No. 251 for bridge structures at the Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN). Co-coordinator and participant in several research projects in the field of roads and bridges, carried out within the framework of the European Union (fatigue of modern road pavements of various designs, delamination of concrete pavements on highways and bridges, testing equipment in the field of transport in Europe, among others). From 2000 to 2007, he was actively involved on the Polish side in the European Federation of Highway Research Laboratories (FEHRL), which resulted in, among other things, the development of the “Vision for Transport in Europe 2040.” He is a European Union expert on surface transport. For two terms, he served as a member of the WC1-IABSE Structural Safety Committee, based in Switzerland. He sits on the editorial boards of several national industry journals. He has organized or co-organized over a dozen national seminars and conferences.
He began his teaching career at the Wrocław University of Technology, focusing on transportation engineering and bridge design. He currently continues this work at his alma mater, the University of Zielona Góra, where he lectures primarily on steel bridges, as well as research and materials science in the field of roads and bridges. His professional achievements include work in construction and design, expert opinions, training, coordination, and the implementation of the Bridge Management System into widespread practice. He is a member of the Association of Bridge Engineers of the Republic of Poland (ZMRP), the Polish Association of Civil Engineers and Technicians (PZITB), the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).