**2. Maglev elevated guideways**

In maglev guideways, contrary to the traditional railroad tracks, there is no need to ballast, sleeper, rail pad and rail fastenings to stabilize the rail gauge. Basically, there are two main elements in a maglev system, including its vehicle and the guideway. The guideway is the structure that maglev vehicles move over it and are supported and guided by it. It is the main element in maglev system and holds big share of costs for the system. It is vital for maglev trains. Guideway consists of superstructures and substructures. In fact, a guideway consists of a beam (girder) and two levitation (guidance) rails. Guideways can be constructed at grade (ground-level) or elevated including columns with concrete, steel, or hybrid beams. Concrete guideway girders can be as reinforced or prestressed. Majority of the existing maglev guideways are elevated and completely built on bridge (see **Figure 2**). Guideway provides

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

load cases. Magnetic forces are generated by the maglev vehicle and cause structural loading that transmits to the guideway. This can happen while such a vehicle is stationary or in motion. There are a variety of designs for maglev systems, and engineers keep revealing new ideas about such systems. Many systems have been proposed in different parts of the world, and a number of corridors have been selected and researched. During the past three decades,

Introductory Chapter: Modern Bridges http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.74722 3

different guideways have been developed, constructed, and tested [1–16].

[1] Iran Maglev Technology (IMT). 2008. www.maglev.ir, Tehran, Iran

Turkey, Vol. 2. 2010. pp. 299-306. ISBN: 978-0-7918-4916-3

Railway Publishing House; 2010. pp. 15-23. ISBN: 978-7-113-11751-1

China Railway Publishing House; 2010. pp. 73-83. ISBN: 978-7-113-11751-1

[2] Yaghoubi H. Magnetically Levitated Trains, Maglev. Tehran, Iran: Pooyan Farnegar

[3] Yaghoubi H, Sadat Hoseini M. Mechanical assessment of maglev vehicle—A proposal for implementing maglev trains in Iran. The ASME 10th Biennial Conference on Engineering Systems Design and Analysis (ESDA); Yeditepe University, Istanbul,

[4] Yaghoubi H, Ziari H. Assessment of structural analysis and design principles for maglev guideway: A case-study for implementing low-speed maglev systems in Iran. The 1st International Conference on Railway Engineering, High-speed Railway, Heavy Haul Railway and Urban Rail Transit; Beijing Jiaotong University; Beijing, China: China

[5] Behbahani H, Yaghoubi H. Procedures for safety and risk assessment of maglev systems: A case-study for long-distance and high-speed maglev project in Mashhad-Tehran route. The 1st International Conference on Railway Engineering, High-speed Railway, Heavy Haul Railway and Urban Rail Transit; Beijing Jiaotong University; Beijing, China:

[6] Yaghoubi H. The most important advantages of magnetically levitated trains. Towards Sustainable Transportation Systems. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference

This work was performed by Iran Maglev Technology (IMT).

Address all correspondence to: info@maglev.ir

Publisher; 2008. ISBN: 978-600-5085-05-1

Iran Maglev Technology (IMT), Tehran, Iran

**Acknowledgements**

**Author details**

Hamid Yaghoubi

**References**

**Figure 1.** China maglev guideway.

**Figure 2.** Standard guideway types.

guidance for the movement of the vehicle, to support the vehicle load, and to transfer the load to the ground. The loading of the maglev vehicle is an important parameter in the practical application. It is related to the magnetic forces. Guideway girder is evaluated for different load cases. Magnetic forces are generated by the maglev vehicle and cause structural loading that transmits to the guideway. This can happen while such a vehicle is stationary or in motion. There are a variety of designs for maglev systems, and engineers keep revealing new ideas about such systems. Many systems have been proposed in different parts of the world, and a number of corridors have been selected and researched. During the past three decades, different guideways have been developed, constructed, and tested [1–16].
