HS2 has completed the final operation for the first viaduct structures to be built at Delta Junction.
HS2 engineers have moved two railway viaducts into position over the M42/M6, with the ‘push’ to move the 158-metre-long ‘West Link Viaduct’, taking 11 hours over the weekend.
Main works contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) and Highways worked to complete the operation and reopen the motorway link roads 6.5 hours ahead of schedule with minimal disruption.
The viaducts are part of a group of 13 viaducts which make up HS2’s triangular Delta Junction.
The section will enable HS2 trains to travel between London, Interchange Station in Solihull and Birmingham Curzon Street Station.
In June, the first 84 metre section of the composite viaduct was moved to its halfway position.
Since then, three further steel girders were welded to the back of the first section and 38 precast concrete slabs were installed to complete the 158-metre-long structure, which has now been moved over both link roads.
The parallel ‘East Link Viaduct’ was moved into place using an identical two-stage process during two weekend operations in February and April, and is now being prepared to be brought into use as an internal haul road by the end of December.
The four operations were delivered by a team of 25 people from specialist steelwork company Victor Buyck Steel Construction (VBSC), working on behalf of BBV.
HS2 is expected to be operational 2029 and 2033.
Last week, HS2 completed the Colne Valley viaduct making it Britain’s longest rail bridge, following more than 10 years of planning, design and construction.
Meanwhile, a joint venture made up of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and Bam Nuttall, recently installed the last stretch of parapets along the Highfurlong Brook Viaduct in Northamptonshire.
Panos Psathas, senior project manager at HS2 Ltd said: “Completing the last in a quartet of viaduct pushes this year is an impressive achievement for the team, particularly as these are the first huge viaduct spans to be built in the Delta Junction.
“We’re now at peak construction, with thousands of specialist engineers, architects, designers and project managers working together, using cutting edge technology like this to deliver Britain’s new high-speed railway.”
JoseLuis Preciados, senior project manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI said: “This final viaduct push is a significant milestone in our construction of HS2’s Delta Junction. I’m incredibly proud of the BBV team, who’ve worked tirelessly throughout this year to ensure each of these complex operations were planned and delivered with precision.
“Each viaduct deck was built offline and moved into position over a weekend closure of the highway, drastically reducing the impacts on road users. We’ve worked in collaboration with our partners National Highways throughout the entire process, to make sure that this activity was delivered safely and efficiently.”
Tibo Suvée, project manager at Victor Buyck Steel Construction said: “This has been a complex eight-month operation, and the first time our push-pull jacking system has been used in the UK. The technique provides greater flexibility during the launching operation by allowing the bridge to be moved backwards or both ways if needed.”
National Highways network planner David Patmore said: “Complex operations such as this will inevitably cause some disruption but we have worked extremely hard, with HS2 and their partners, to minimise that disruption for people using our roads.”
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