The Balsall Common, Marsh Farm, and River Blythe viaducts have all been completed within the Solihull metropolitan borough
The final parapets will be installed on the HS2 Solihull viaducts, as the River Blythe viaduct is the last to be finished.
The viaducts will carry HS2 trains through Solihull and to the closest Interchange Station, around 1.5 miles away.
Marsh Farm Viaduct was completed first
The first of these structures was completed in summer last year, and the main structure of the Balsall Common Viaduct was completed earlier this year. All 304 parapets will be installed by Spring 2027.
The River Blythe Viaduct and the Balsall Common Viaduct are both ‘Key Design Elements’ (KDEs), meaning that their size, proximity to communities, or location within sensitive areas makes them significant and local communities have more opportunities to influence their design and method of construction.
The River Blythe is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which affected the construction of the 495-metre-long and 12-metre-high viaduct. The structure crosses the river, floodplain, and Meriden Road, close to Hampton in Arden.
The deck of the structure is supported by two abutments and 19 concrete piers. The piers have Y-shaped splits, reducing the amount of concrete used and boosting the aesthetic appeal. Local communities were consulted and decided that larger polished parapets to one side of the structure was better, and they were also consulted on the planting of trees to blend the viaduct into the landscape.
Doug Barnett, HS2 Ltd’s senior project manager said: “Our engineering teams are making fantastic progress on the Interchange Station approach, and it’s a significant achievement that all three viaducts in the Solihull borough are now structurally complete.
“The design and landscaping solutions were of upmost importance to local residents, and we worked extremely hard to get that right.”
Aspects of HS2 are coming together
HS2 is making strides towards completion, as in July the A43 was realigned over a new bridge over just two weekends, minimising disruption to the road linking Oxford, Brackley, and Northampton, as well as causing no issues for the British Grand Prix.
Earlier that same month, the structure of the 16-metre wide and 700-metre long Burton green tunnel was completed, and work is continuing to put the ‘green roof’ over the structure, complete with trees. This followed the completion of the Copthall tunnel near West Ruislip, the first of the ‘green tunnels’ to be completed, at the start of July.
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