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Why Maglev
Magnetic levitation or maglev is an emerging high-speed rail
technology. The maglev train is propelled along a girder or
guideway by an electromagnetic field traveling along the track.
With no moving mechanical parts, maglev trains are quieter,
more efficient, and faster than their wheeled counterparts.
Maglev trains can reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.
The first commercial maglev project opened in 2003 in China—a
30-kilometer (19 mile) double-track elevated maglev guideway
running between Shanghai and the new Purlong Airport. The United
States has considered serveral maglev projects.
Guideways can be steel, precast concrete, or hybrid steel and
concrete. China’s Shanghai project uses a hybrid design:
a precast concrete girder fitted with small steel flanges.
Why Concrete
The concrete hybrid girder is particularly suited to maglev
because it can be manufactured and constructed to the close
tolerances required by maglev, has sufficient mass to keep vibrations
and deflections to within safe limits, and resists deformation
due to temperature changes.
Concrete has a proven and well-documented track record for aerial
transit structures and long highway bridges. The Federal Highway
Administration’s bridge inventory documents concrete’s
superior performance over steel. 88% of the highway bridges
built in the U.S, are concrete.
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First
U.S. Maglev Project
Back on Track
The
Southern California Association of Governments Maglev
Task Force is working on a plan to build an initial
54-mile magnetic levitation, or maglev, rail system
primarily through the use of private funding.
Federal funding has yet to materialize for projects
previously proposed for Baltimore-Washington, Pittsburgh,
Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
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Orangeline
Development Authority Proposes Funded Maglev
On
May 10, the Orangeline Development Authority presented
to the Orange County Transportation Authority an
overview on a privately-funded $19 billion high speed
rail system
being developed to connect cities from Irvine to Palmdale
in northern Los Angeles County. The system, which uses
advanced magnetic levitation technology capable of going
at more than 300 mph, could
begin operation as early as 2013. The "Orangeline
High Speed Maglev" could be the first high maglev
system in the U.S.
more
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