[VIDEO] HS2 Burton Green tunnel now structurally complete

Another tunnel on the HS2 line has made a stride towards completion, as the structure of the bridge near Kenilworth has been finished

It is now possible to walk all the way through the HS2 Burton Green tunnel.

The tunnel is 16 metres wide and 700 metres long, with a twin-box shape to carry trains beneath the nearby village of Burton Green.

The last roof segment has been put in place

The internal wall of the tunnel separates northbound and southbound trains and with the final roof panel in place, engineers can now focus on creating the ‘green roof’ on the tunnel to blend it with the landscape. This covering will cover about 500m of the tunnel.

On top of the tunnel, green spaces for the community to enjoy will be created, including the reinstating of the Kenilworth Greenway linking Balsall Common to Kenilworth via Burton Green, offering a space for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders.

Doug Barnett, senior project manager for HS2 Ltd, said: “With the main civil engineering complete, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the 150-strong team on the ground, we can now begin the next phase of this exciting project.

“We look forward to working with local communities to bring the bold design vision for Burton Green tunnel to life, maximising the potential of this new green space.”

Tim Akers, design manager from the Mott MacDonald/SYSTRA Design Joint Venture, said: “A range of techniques were incorporated into the design to enable construction through this narrow corridor within the village. The end result will be a railway within a landscape, where the original character of the Kenilworth Greenway and ecological connectivity to the wider landscape are restored over the buried tunnel.”

The first ‘green tunnel’ has already been completed

Earlier this month, HS2 announced the completion of the first green tunnel on the HS2 line, the Copthall tunnel near West Ruislip.

At 880 metres long, the tunnel required roughly 1.2 m³ of material to be excavated during construction. It is also the only ‘single-bore’ tunnel on the whole line. It was originally designed to be an open-cut design, but it was quickly decided that a cut-and-cover tunnel would be the better option.

This meant that the excavated material could be re-used to cover the tunnel, and saved about 100,000 truck movements in material removal.

Rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said: “The completion of Copthall tunnel marks another significant milestone for HS2. Making use of innovative design, the tunnel reduces the impact on nearby communities by blending into its surroundings whilst keeping thousands of truck journeys off local roads by using materials close to the site.

“Our reset of HS2 is driving faster, more efficient construction on-the-ground and supporting thousands of jobs as we work to deliver the project at the lowest reasonable cost.”

Read more here.

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