HS2 has passed the halfway point of construction on what is set to become Britain’s longest railway bridge in a milestone moment for the project.
The viaduct, which is situated near Denham, Buckinghamshire, began construction in December 2021 and will carry services at speeds of up to 200mph over two miles across the Colne Valley.
Works on the viaduct have been led by HS2’s main civil works contractor, Align JV, a team consisting of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick.
Sir Jon Thompson, HS2 Ltd’s Executive Chair, said:HS2 is by far the biggest and most ambitious infrastructure project in the UK and it’s fantastic to see phenomenal feats of civil engineering like the Colne Valley Viaduct taking shape.
The enormous progress made in the last three years along the length of the route between London and the West Midlands is testament to the skill and dedication of the thousands of people who work on this transformational project every day.
Construction of the bridge has been achieved using a large launching girder that has worked its way across the valley, moving from one pier to the next over the last 18 months. To date, more than 500 of the Colne Valley Vidauct’s 1,000 deck segments have been installed along the structure, with each uniquely shaped to enable the curved structure on the 2.1-mile stretch.
Align's Surface Operations Director, Derek van Rensburg said:To have manufactured and installed over 500 segments, which equates to over one mile of the viaduct deck, is another great achievement for the Align team involved, working with our supply chain partners and in particular VSL. It is also important to note that we have delivered this work safely and in the process we have endeavoured to minimise any disruption for the local community.
This milestone comes as HS2’s recent Construction Review was presented to the public, highlighting progress made since main works began development in Autumn 2020.
