Lawley Middleway Bridge moves into place in major milestone
Four days ahead of schedule, HS2 engineers moved a 1,631-tonne steel bridge into place over Lawley Middleway in Birmingham over the August bank holiday.
The operation was successfully delivered by HS2’s main works contractor in the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) and their specialist bridge move contractor Mammoet.
To minimise disruption to road users, the huge span was moved during night-time road closures - moving between 18 and 24 metres every night using a special skidding system - ensuring that the road remained open during the day. The team were able to get ahead of programme, meaning the road was back to normal four days ahead of its planned reopening. Watch a timelapse video of the successful move.
As the Lead Bridge Architect for the Mott MacDonald SYSTRA Design Joint Venture (DJV), it is incredible to see this major city-shaping infrastructure take shape. The whole design and contractor team have been conscious to design for the future legacy of Birmingham, prioritising people, place, planet and prosperity - but also minimising disruption in bringing HS2 into the city centre. The Lawley Middleway launch is a spectacular example of this thinking becoming a reality.
Nick McGough, Director at WW+P
Greg Sugden, S2’s Head of Delivery for the Curzon Approaches, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the team, and the culmination of two years’ work including detailed design, planning, construction and delivery of this highly technical launch operation. It is the first steel structure to be put in place for the one mile stretch of viaducts on the approach to Birmingham Curzon Street Station – a pivotal part of the high-speed railway now starting to take shape.”
Georgios Markakis, Project Manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), said: “This is a proud moment for my team, who have worked hard to deliver this impressive feat of engineering. Through careful planning and expert support from our supply chain, we were able to deliver the operation much quicker than planned. Not only have we successfully delivered a milestone feat of engineering on the HS2 project, we’ve also been able to get the road back to normal early – which is good news for everyone.”
Lawley Middleway bridge forms part of the railway’s approach to Birmingham, with high-speed trains travelling out of the west portal of the 3.5 mile Bromford Tunnel at Washwood Heath and onto a one mile stretch of five connected viaducts – Duddeston Junction, Curzon 1, Curzon 2, Lawley Middleway and Curzon 3 – which links onto the platforms of Birmingham Curzon Street Station.
Now at peak productivity, work will progress on this section of the railway with the second Bromford Tunnel breakthrough, Curzon 2 viaduct move, first Duddeston Junction Viaduct move, reopening of Aston Church Road, demolition of the old Aston Church Road bridge and start of construction of the new Saltley Viaduct – all set to happen over the next 12 months.