HS2 construction team complete mega steel bridge installation

Weighing 1,631t and measuring 112m in length, an assembled steel bridge has been manoeuvred into place during a series of nighttime operations.

Forming part of the HS2 construction works, the bridge spans Birmingham’s busy ring road at Lawley Middleway and is one of five viaducts that will bring high-speed trains into Curzon Street Station.

A skidding system, with a jacking push/pull mechanism, was used alongside SPMTs to move the structure into place across the highway.

To minimise disruption to road users, the span was moved around 12m every night, ensuring that the road remained open during the day.

Working on behalf of Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), Severfield fabricated, supplied and installed the steelwork for the project.

Georgios Markakis, Project Manager at BBV said: “This operation was a first for BBV, combining SPMTs and a skidding system to lift, rotate and move this giant structure into place. Work is progressing well on this section of the Curzon Approaches, delivered by a team of more than 250 people, including steel welders, steel fixers, joiners and engineering apprentices.”

Elsewhere on the HS2 scheme, William Hare is delivering eight overbridges and 11 footbridges, requiring more than 7,000t of steelwork.

One of them was the A422 Brackley Overbridge, which was installed on behalf of main contractor EKFB, (a joint venture comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall).

The 129m-long steel superstructure was installed in three parts, with the central span preassembled on site and manoeuvred onto its two concrete piers using an SMPT.

The two back spans were later installed by a 400t-capacity crawler crane.

The steelwork included 20 plate girders, measuring 2m-high × 1.2m-wide, and up to 29.5m in length.

The biggest structure being constructed by the EKFB and William Hare team is the Turweston Viaduct on the border between Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

The ‘green bridge’, which is 99m-wide, requires 36 steel girders to support 2,700m³ of earth. The competed deck will be landscaped and planted with the hedgerows, shrubs and other vegetation to create a safe wildlife crossing over the HS2 railway.