Engineers working on HS2 have completed Curzon 2, the tallest bridge on the new high-speed railway. Curzon 2 forms part of a network of five viaducts, carrying trains into Curzon Street Station.
The bridge includes a 24-metre-high steel truss assembled from 670 welded sections arranged in triangular units. Built from weathering steel designed to darken naturally over time, the structure is expected to become a prominent feature of Birmingham’s skyline.
Weighing 4,200 tonnes, the bridge will be launched into place in three phases, with the final position due to be reached on Friday, 5 June. Once installed above an existing 17-metre-high Victorian railway viaduct, the top of the arched truss will rise more than 40 metres above ground level, roughly the height of a 10-storey building.
With final checks now underway before the structure is launched across the Cross City line near Birmingham city centre. The milestone marks another advance for the 140-mile route linking central London with the West Midlands.
The superstructure was delivered by 250 engineers working for Balfour Beatty VINCI over three years. The main launch phase will require the closure of the Cross City line between Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley railway station from Friday, 29 May to Sunday, 31 May 2026.
“This has been an incredible challenge and I’m extremely proud of the team who worked around the clock, in all weather conditions, to complete this magnificent structure.
“We are now preparing for the final stages, when the 4,200-tonne steel truss will be moved into position using high-precision hydraulic strand jacks. The structure will slide carefully into place over temporary bearings in a controlled operation.”
Onder Akin, Senior Project Manager for Balfour Beatty VINCI.
Responses
Im actually much more impressed with the 17 m high bridge structure thus passes over. Built with purpose by the Victorians, served us well for decades, and probably on time and on budget.
A new iconic? metal girder bridge is about to be lifted in place in Birmingham this coming week.
The structure is expected to become a prominent feature of Birmingham’s skyline. Image below. In the meantime
I thought I would do some number crunching against the newest Shinkansen line in Japan that opened in 2024.
It is truly startling what politicians do with taxpayers money.
Hokuriku Shinkansen
Opening date 2024
Built through mountains
Tunnel: 38.4 km (34%)
Viaduct: 59.2 km (52%)
Bridge: 15.3 km (13%)
Length 125km
Cost £11.2billion
HS2 Labour Line
HS2 Ltd registered 2009 set up by the
Labour government
Length – variable currently 225km
Built through rolling hillocks
Tunnels 52.4km
Viaducts 14.5km
Bridges 15km
Cost £98billion
Impressive structure I have to say, even if you think HS2 is complete waste of time and money, particularly as the HS2 line has been chopped back to make it pretty pointless.