First HS2 Delta Junction viaduct section unveiled
UK: The first viaduct section on HS2’s triangular junction outside Birmingham has been unveiled. Chris Howe reports from the site in Warwickshire.
The Balfour Beatty-Vinci joint venture that is building the West Midlands section of High Speed 2 has revealed the first completed viaduct section that will form part of a series of structures which is collectively referred to as Delta Junction.
The triangular-shaped junction in North Warwickshire will take trains from HS2’s north-south main running line west towards Birmingham, while potentially allowing passenger trains to operate from Birmingham to northwest England and Scotland.
The completed segment unveiled by the contractors on February 12 is a 472 m long single track deck forming part of the River Tame West viaduct. Located at the northern tip of the triangle, this is one of three separate River Tame viaducts that converge at Curdworth Box. Two further viaducts, Water Orton East and Water Orton West, will take the HS2 tracks from the north towards Birmingham.
Curdworth Box itself is formed of three separate bridge decks. Together, these will take the HS2 tracks over Network Rail’s Derby – Birmingham main line. The main span will accommodate four tracks, while the two eastern spans will each accommodate a single track.
Heading north from Curdworth, the HS2 tracks towards Lichfield then become a double-track alignment before reaching the Marston box; this crosses the M42 to the west of Kingsbury. The …
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