HS2’s Interchange Station takes step forward with bridge progress
HS2’s Interchange Station in Solihull has taken a step forward after a 20-strong team carefully lifted 15 colossal bridge beams into position.
Hoisted into place onto existing abutments and piers using a 650-tonne crane, the concrete beams form the ‘building blocks’ of a road bridge that will take vehicle users over the high-speed rail tracks and onto the station car parks.
The giant beams weigh a collective total of 565 tonnes and are the foundation of the two-lane bridge, which will stretch 63.5 metres once complete. Due to be completed in 2025, the next phase of construction will see a concrete deck placed on top of the beams, before parapet walls are installed and surfacing work can take place.
HS2’s Interchange Station will be the catalyst for huge growth in Solihull, creating an economic transformation for the region. The plans, being led by the Urban Growth Company, will support 30,000 jobs, up to 3,000 new homes and 70,000 square metres of commercial space.
The 150-hectare site for Interchange Station sits in a triangle of land between the M42, A45 and A452. Once operational, the new station will have up to five trains per hour passing through in both directions and will put commuters within 38 minutes of London.
The contract to build Interchange Station was awarded to Laing O'Rourke last year, with work underway on design. HS2’s main works civil contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), is currently preparing the site where the new station will be built and carrying out preliminary civil engineering work – ready for full construction to start in 2026.
In order to hear more about the forthcoming plans and see progress to date, Saqib Bhatti, MP for Meriden and Solihull East, joined HS2 managers and engineers onsite.
Managed by BBV, last week’s complex operation was delivered by a team of 20 people in a space of just five days. The pre-cast concrete bridge beams were manufactured by family-run business Shay Murtagh Precast, with additional support from Sian Formwork Ltd and Ainscough Crane Hire to complete the installation work.
HS2 is building more than 500 bridging structures route wide, which range from small footbridges to major viaducts, such as the West Link and East Link Viaducts – two parallel structures in North Warwickshire and the first viaducts to be built in HS2’s Delta Junction.
As construction continues at pace between the West Midlands and London, HS2 now supports more than 31,000 jobs. When complete, Britain’s new high-speed railway will create quicker and more reliable journeys, driving economic growth while crucially freeing up space for more local trains on the most congested part of the existing West Coast Main Line.
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0:00 Introduction
0:13 What is Interchange Station's Access Overbridge
0:32 Progress update
0:47 Key facts
1:03 Pre-fabrication of concrete beams
1:25 What happens now?
1:45 Final thoughts
2:00 Outro
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