The steel bridge, weighing 1,631 tonnes, has been slid into place over Lawley Middleway, four days ahead of schedule
The HS2 Birmingham bridge move was completed by Balfour Beatty VINCI, with bridge-moving subcontractor Mammoet.
The bridge is 112m long, and was moved over several nights between 18 and 24 metres per night.
The process lasted between 15 August and 22 August
The original plan was for the move to take place by 25 August. The bridge was built on land adjacent to its final position, by the Digbeth Canal, and took two years to build.
Self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) were used to rotate the bridge 90 degrees in preparation for its move.
From there, a skidding mechanism utilising a jacking push/pull mechanism was employed alongside the SPMTs, moving the bridge across the Lawley Middleway. This technique was a first for Balfour Beatty VINCI working on HS2.
This section of the railway comprises the Birmingham approach after the 3.5-mile Bromford Tunnel, with five viaducts creating a mile-long stretch. The viaducts are Duddeston Junction, Curzon 1 and 2, Lawley Middleway, and Curzon 3.
HS2’s head of delivery for the Curzon approaches, Greg Sugden, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the team, and the culmination of two years’ work including detailed design, planning, construction and delivery of this highly technical launch operation.
“It is the first steel structure to be put in place for the one mile stretch of viaducts on the approach to Birmingham Curzon Street Station – a pivotal part of the high-speed railway now starting to take shape.”
Highs and lows for the HS2 programme
The year so far has seen major events for HS2, some landmarks being achieved, and other inquiries and incidents causing setbacks.
For example, the dig for the Northolt Tunnel, 35 metres below ground in London, finished its fourth and final breakthrough at the end of June. The tunnel is 8.4 miles long, making it the second-longest tunnel on the HS2 route.
The HS2 programme has also begun its fourth paid placement programme for summer 2025 in July, lasting eight weeks and offering 32 university students in related fields a first-hand experience.
However, in July, HS2 announced that they were beginning contract renegotiation with the Department for Transport as part of the fundamental reset following heavy criticism in the handling of the programme. As the contracts stood before renegotiation, they were criticised for not providing enough incentive for contractors to work quickly, and also did not have much capacity to penalise firms if they underperformed.
Furthermore, following a report in February by the Public Accounts Committee damning the programme as “a casebook example of how not to run a major project,” more criticism came from the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander.
Alexander said that there is “no reasonable way” that HS2 will be delivered on the current schedule, due to a “litany of failures.” She continued: “Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management, […] It’s an appalling mess. But it’s one we will sort out.”
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