Align JV has suspended work on the Colne Valley Viaduct, with local residents warned that there will be concrete drilling noises over the week
Works on HS2’s Colne Valley Viaduct, which crosses the A412, has been paused as ‘urgent remedial works’ are carried out on the most recently completed section.
Align JV, which is comprised of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick, reached the halfway mark of the Colne Valley Viaduct project in November 2023.
Upon completion, the viaduct will be the longest rail bridge in the UK at 3.4km, taking HS2 trains from Hillingdon to the Chiltern tunnels at the M25 in an estimated 40 seconds.
The viaduct is made of over a thousand precast concrete structures
The precast concrete structures weigh up to 140 tonnes each and are being placed by a 700 tonne launching girder in a balanced cantilever method.
Precast deck segments are erected either side of the 56 piers, with each span tightened into place with internal steel cables and the final 20cm joint filled in with concrete.
Each segment is match-casted to ensure a perfect lock with the previous segment, creating greater connectivity and stability.
The remedial works will involve drilling out the concrete join of the latest span.
Regular works on the Colne Valley Viaduct should resume next week
In a letter sent to local residents seen by the New Civil Engineer, HS2 said the remedial works started on Monday (19 February) and will continue during the week, including during the night for “the next two to three days.”
The letter also advised that the works “will involve the breaking out of concrete and this will generate noise”.
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “We need to repeat cable tensioning work on the most recently completed span of the Colne Valley Viaduct. To do this, first we must drill out the span’s concrete join.
“We hope to complete it this week, and then construction work will continue as planned.”
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