Industry news
HS2 engineers complete M42 bridge lifting works
CGI showing how the HS2 line will cross the M42 twin box.
HS2 engineers have completed the lifting of six spans over the M42, following a four-weekend programme of construction works led by Balfour Beatty VINCI( BBV).
The final spans at the Water Orton viaduct site were installed during the weekend closure, with the motorway reopening at around 4am on Monday, 21 September.
Engineers completed work on the final beams for HS2’ s‘ twin box’ structure, three miles south near the NEC.
Twin box structure reaches structural completion
A300-metre-long twin box will carry the railway over the M42. The structure consists of two boxes because of the angle at which the railway crosses the motorway.
A 150-strong team installed the final 44 beams over the southbound carriageway during the September closure, completing the roof structure.
The roof comprises 175 individual beams, each weighing between 56 and 92 tonnes. A 300-tonne crawler crane lifted the
23-metre-long beams into position between supporting walls and columns on either side of the carriageway.
The structure is 10 metres high, with two 145-metre-long walls and 46 internal columns supporting the 9,800-tonne roof.
Water Orton viaducts form part of the‘ delta junction’, linking Birmingham with the mainline heading north. They cross the M42, A446, Birmingham to Peterborough railway line and River Tame.
74 www. britbuild-magazine. co. uk