HS2’s viaduct across the Colne Valley has traversed the Grand Union Canal on its way to becoming Britain’s longest railway bridge.

Both were built under powers granted by Act of Parliament; arrive in the Birmingham district of Digbeth; and with similar lengths – HS2, 140miles; the canal, 137 miles – were two of the largest civil engineering endeavours of their time.

The two are dramatically different in other respects. Compared to the sedate progress of canal boats high speed trains will travel across the 2.1mile viaduct at speeds of up to 200mph, completing the journey in just 45mins.

It comes after HS2 Ltd completed the construction of all the supporting piers on the structure – following two years’ work over land and water.

In total, 56 piers have been built to carry the viaduct. Piers need to be built in advance of the deck being laid. HS2 is using a giant launching girder to install the viaduct’s 1,000 deck segments, with the machine making its way from north to south across the Colne Valley to position them into place.

Once complete, HS2 will provide faster and far more reliable journeys between London and Birmingham, with trains running on conventional lines further north. It will also double rail capacity between the UK’s two biggest cities – relieving the most congested southern part of the West Coast Main Line, creating more capacity for local and freight services.

The viaduct construction is being led by HS2’s main works contractor Align JV – that includes Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and Volker Fitzpatrick.

Find out more at: https://www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/v...

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