The HS2 rail project has reached a major milestone in the construction of the UK’s largest railway bridge, as work begins on the first of 56 giant concrete piers that will support the Colne Valley Viaduct.
Construction Review Online reports that the 3.4km long viaduct will carry high-speed trains at speeds of up to 200mph between the outskirts of Hillingdon and the M25, before heading north to Birmingham and the North of England.
Engineers from Align JV, HS2’s main works contractor, cast the first pier, with a team comprising of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick, and working in partnership with Kilnbridge.
The 6-metre high reinforced concrete pier was cast on-site by a team of engineers who used specially-designed formwork to create the shape of the structure.
Each of the 56 piers is designed to support the full weight of the deck and rest on piles that go 55 metres into the ground. A total of 292 piles and 56 pile caps across the length of the viaduct will be required.
Construction of four jetties across the lakes has also been completed, allowing contractors to get equipment into position to support the construction, which also helps remove heavy vehicles from local roads.
HS2 Ltd’s project client, David Emms, said: “The Colne Valley Viaduct will be one of HS2’s most iconic structures and it’s great to see how much has been achieved already. I’d like to thank the whole team for the huge amount of work they’ve done to get us to this point.”
Align’s project director, Daniel Altier, said that he had no doubt that the viaduct will become one of the most striking elements of HS2, and explained that its construction will be of interest to engineers of all ages.
He said that the deck sections were manufactured at the main construction site to the west of London, and the deck will be formed from north to south using a huge launching girder, also helping to keep construction traffic off local roads.
The Colne Valley Viaduct has a series of elegant spans, some up to 80-metres long, carrying the railway around 10-metres above the surface of the lakes, River Colne and Grand Union Canal.
Wider spans will carry the viaduct above the lakes of the Colne Valley, while the narrower spans are for the approaches.
The chosen design of the viaduct enables tuning views across the landscape and minimises the viaduct’s footprint on the area.
To cut carbon across the construction of HS2, the design and construction teams working on the viaduct have also cut the amount of embedded carbon in the viaduct by around a third, by narrowing the width of the structure and applying lessons for the design of high-speed railway bridges in Europe.
Over the last six years, HS2 has worked closely with Affinity Water and the Environment Agency to monitor water quality and agree on working methods. These are being monitored by a team of specialist engineers during construction to protect the natural environment.
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