The first section of a new bridge over the Birmingham to Derby rail lines has been put into place
The HS2 Saltley Viaduct will replace the original, which spans 183 metres of the B4114 and was demolished in May 2026.
This allowed a new, taller structure to be built in its place, meaning high-speed trains can pass below, and the full replacement viaduct is now being built.
The first section was installed over the weekend
Working over the August bank holiday, engineers assembled the first steel section of the viaduct, 55 metres long, in the place of the original section, which was then driven into place across 125 metres over the railway lines.
The move was carried out using self-propelled modular transporters in conjunction with Network Rail. The railway was closed for the work and reopened to passengers on 1 September.
Three more phases will follow this to complete the construction, with the 35-metre-long span being assembled to cross the new HS2 line. This span is expected to be put in place by October.
Spans three and four, crossing the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal, will then follow later this year, and a new bridge over the River Rea will also be built to form part of the realigned B4114.
Nic Ryder, HS2 Ltd’s project manager for the works, said: “Our engineering team is making fantastic progress and everyone worked incredibly hard over the Bank Holiday weekend to ensure we were finished in time for the railway to reopen.
“In the three months since the road closed, they have demolished the original structure and successfully installed the first span of the replacement bridge, putting us on track to proceed to the next phase.”
Many viaducts are complete or near completion
Last month, it was announced that the final viaduct to be built for the approach to Curzon Street Station, the Duddeston Junction Viaduct, had been launched, marking the completion of the first major phase of work for this section of railway tracks.
This junction in particular is noteworthy for its geometry and complexity, with the structure following a varying horizontal curve with a 3% gradient.
Tony Zakaria, HS2’s senior project manager for the Curzon Approaches said: “Launching the fifth and final viaduct on the Curzon Approaches is a clear sign of the progress we are making to bring high speed rail to Birmingham.
“This final mile stretch of the HS2 route into the city centre is extremely challenging and we’ve worked exceptionally hard, in conjunction with Network Rail, to plan the whole operation with minimum disruption to both passenger and rail freight services”.
Read more about the aspect of the project here.
The post First section of HS2 Saltley Viaduct installed appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
