Balfour Beatty Vinci Completes HS2 Bridge Triple Over the M42

Balfour Beatty Vinci has dropped the final two 1,000-tonne viaduct spans into place over the M42 near Birmingham, completing a mammoth weekend engineering operation on HS2.

The contractor also finished installing the 175 beams forming the roof of a second major bridge three miles away, bringing four weekends of intensive motorway works to a close.

A 75-strong team installed the two 45m-long spans at Water Orton, completing all six viaduct crossings over the motorway. Each span was assembled from 18 precast concrete segments manufactured at BBV's Kingsbury batching plant. The segments were driven into position on self-propelled modular transporters and locked together using internal tensioning cables.

Three miles away, a separate 150-strong team installed the final 44 beams on the 300m-long M42 twin box near the NEC. A 300-tonne crawler crane lifted the 23m-long beams, weighing up to 92 tonnes each, into position to complete the structure's 9,800-tonne roof.

The twin box now stands 10m high, supported by two 145m-long walls and 46 internal columns.

Both operations were completed during a weekend motorway shutdown. The M42 reopened at around 4am on Monday, an hour ahead of schedule.

BBV project director Oliver Shore said: "This was a huge engineering challenge and I'm so proud of the way our teams have responded."

The two Water Orton viaducts form part of HS2's triangular delta junction, linking Birmingham with the main line heading north.

BBV will now extend Water Orton 2 by another 40m to close the final gap over Gilson Road.

The M42 will shut again from 23 to 26 October to allow the contractor to install parapets above the motorway.