Project & Case Study Showcase between 14 and 58 tonnes – are being manufactured in a factory in Ireland by Shay Murtagh Precast before being delivered to site by road. To avoid traffic, the deliveries are meticulously planned and timed to arrive early in the morning when the roads are quiet.
They are made up of 488 U-beams and 68 narrower L-beams.
While most of the beams will be lifted directly into position with large crawler cranes, up to 120 of the beams, which are closer in proximity to the existing railway, are being lifted onto a specialised piece of equipment called a self-propelled modular transporter( SPMT) to be moved into their final position.
Supported by 96 wheels, these highly manoeuvrable machines lift the beams to be lifted from underneath and place them precisely into position. This avoids the risk of using cranes next to the railway and allow services to keep running into Birmingham New Street during the work.
Martyn Woodhouse, Project Director, Mace Dragados Joint Venture, said:“ Lifting these first beams into place is a major logistical and engineering achievement, and a testament to the coordination across our teams and supply chain. Each installation has been carefully planned to ensure it’ s carried out safely and efficiently, particularly in such a constrained and operational environment.
This work is laying the groundwork for the platforms and brings us another step closer to delivering a world-class station for Birmingham.”
Beneath the station, more than 2,000 piles, ranging from 6 to 24 metres deep, have been sunk into position by Mace Dragados, working with specialist subcontractor Keltbray. An 8-metre-high retaining wall has also been built at the western end of the site – where the land rises up towards the city centre- and 47,000 cubic metres of material excavated to create a level base for the platforms.
At the peak of the work, more than a thousand people are expected to be employed on the Curzon Street project, both directly and via Mace Dragados’ s UK supply chain. To accommodate the growing workforce, construction teams will soon begin moving into a new temporary office block opposite Millennium Point, which will be the nerve centre for the next stage of the project.
Once complete, the high-speed line between London and the West Midlands will become an integral part of the UK rail network, helping to improve journeys and free up space on the existing West Coast Main Line for more freight and local services.
The programme is now undergoing a fundamental reset led by Mark Wild, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, to ensure that the railway is delivered as efficiently as possible and for the lowest reasonable cost.
www. hs2. org. uk
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