Balfour Beatty VINCI has celebrated a world-first as around 450 of its people slid a 12,600 tonne bridge required for HS2, a record 165 metres to position it across a motorway in Warwickshire. The site team worked around the clock to move HS2’s Marston Box bridge into place over the M42 during the Christmas period. The dramatic operation took 48 hours, at a speed of 4 metres per hour, from Saturday 24 to Monday 26 December during a 10-day closure of the motorway between Junctions J9 and J10 (northbound and southbound). The motorway is on schedule to reopen at 0500 on Tuesday, 3 January 2023.Over the past six months, the giant 86-metre-long structure was constructed on land next to the motorway. The structure, developed by a Design Joint Venture of Mott MacDonald and SYSTRA, working on behalf of Balfour Beatty VINCI, has a base, three walls and top slab.The sliding mechanism, designed by specialist civil and structural engineering company Freyssinet, allowed the box to be pushed into place over the motorway on a guiding raft over a distance of 163 metres – which is believed to be the world’s longest box slide.On completion, the whole structure will total around 190 metres in length and will carry HS2 over the motorway as it heads north to Crewe, or on its southward journey as it loops into Birmingham Curzon Street or continues straight on to Interchange Station in Solihull, Old Oak Common Station and London Euston. Once built, the railway bridge will connect to Dunton Wood Embankment to the south and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Viaduct, which crosses the heritage canal, to the north.This construction method, which allowed it to be moved into place in one movement meant only two one-week closures of the motorway over a 12-month period, dramatically reducing disruption for road users.HS2 and Balfour Beatty VINCI has worked in partnership with National Highways to deliver this intricate operation.
Balfour Beatty VINCI has celebrated a world-first as around 450 of its people slid a 12,600 tonne bridge required for HS2, a record 165 metres to position it across a motorway in Warwickshire. The site team worked around the clock to move HS2’s Marston Box bridge into place over the M42 during the Christmas period. The dramatic operation took 48 hours, at a speed of 4 metres per hour, from Saturday 24 to Monday 26 December during a 10-day closure of the motorway between Junctions J9 and J10 (northbound and southbound). The motorway is on schedule to reopen at 0500 on Tuesday, 3 January 2023.Over the past six months, the giant 86-metre-long structure was constructed on land next to the motorway. The structure, developed by a Design Joint Venture of Mott MacDonald and SYSTRA, working on behalf of Balfour Beatty VINCI, has a base, three walls and top slab.The sliding mechanism, designed by specialist civil and structural engineering company Freyssinet, allowed the box to be pushed into place over the motorway on a guiding raft over a distance of 163 metres – which is believed to be the world’s longest box slide.On completion, the whole structure will total around 190 metres in length and will carry HS2 over the motorway as it heads north to Crewe, or on its southward journey as it loops into Birmingham Curzon Street or continues straight on to Interchange Station in Solihull, Old Oak Common Station and London Euston. Once built, the railway bridge will connect to Dunton Wood Embankment to the south and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Viaduct, which crosses the heritage canal, to the north.This construction method, which allowed it to be moved into place in one movement meant only two one-week closures of the motorway over a 12-month period, dramatically reducing disruption for road users.HS2 and Balfour Beatty VINCI has worked in partnership with National Highways to deliver this intricate operation.
