For the last three weekends, the A43 road at Brackley in Northamptonshire has been closed to allow construction of a bridge over HS2, but at midnight last Saturday, 15th March, the final weekend road closure was removed.

The closure of the A43 was necessary to allow enormous steel beams to be lifted into position. Work started on the bridge in 2023, when HS2 engineers, working closely with National Highway, realigned the road to create two carriageways large enough for the construction of the new bridge deck.

Construction of the bridge has included sinking 52-metre-deep piled foundations and building pile caps and piers needed to support a 66-metre-long bridge deck carrying the road.

During this weekend’s road closure, a 750-tonne crane lifted into place the last parts of seven steel beams that will support the bridge deck.

Construction will now focus on the concrete deck and parapets.

After the bridge has been completed, the road will be realigned to use the new bridge, and excavation will take place underneath the bridge for the HS2 railway line.

The construction of HS2 is an enormous project that inevitably affects people using nearby roads. National Highways has worked very hard for a long time to keep disruption to a minimum and has been liaising with HS2 and its partners to develop a plan for reducing the disturbance to road users during the construction of the bridge.

It also took advantage of the road closures to carry out other work on the A43 between Brackley and Syresham.

HS2 requires the construction of over 500 bridging structures, from small footbridges and underpasses, ‘green bridges’ to help wildlife cross the railway, to massive motorway bridges and viaducts.

Two other viaducts near Brackley are at Westbury and Turweston and work on those neared completion at the end of last year. Meanwhile, at Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire, the first deep tunnel on HS2 has completed its civil engineering phase.

“It’s fantastic to see the beam lift take effect, and we’re now starting to see the bridge really take shape. Putting this solution into place has required a huge amount of expertise and collaboration with our partners, and we’re proud of the impact it will have. We look forward to moving onto the next stages of the project, while continuing to work hard to minimise disruption for road users and the local community.”

Tim Boardman, Senior Project Manager at Kier Transportation