Balfour Beatty Vinci has launched the first 170m section of the 700m-long Duddeston Junction Viaduct over two busy freight lines.
The operation marks the start of a major engineering project to cross six live railway tracks, including three freight and three passenger lines.
Work on the crossing is expected to continue until next summer. The next launch phase, which will pass over the passenger railway, is scheduled to begin in December.
Duddeston Junction is the longest of five linked viaducts forming the Curzon Approaches into Birmingham city centre.
The weathering steel structure will consist of 14 spans, each around 55m long. The completed viaduct will weigh up to 6,835 tonnes.
Seven spans will be assembled behind the launch point before being progressively pushed forward across the existing railway. The remaining seven spans will then be lifted into position by crane once the structure has cleared the live tracks.
The engineering challenge is increased by the viaduct’s changing horizontal curve and 3% gradient. The structure will rise to around 12m above the existing railway.
Up to 90 engineers and operatives are working on the heavily constrained site.
HS2 senior project manager Tony Zakaria said: “Launching the fifth and final viaduct on the Curzon Approaches is a clear sign of the progress we are making to bring high speed rail to Birmingham.”
BBV section manager Ross Rendell said: “Duddeston Junction Viaduct is hugely complex and a key section of the HS2 route that will take trains in and out of Curzon Street Station.”
The completed viaduct will be supported by one abutment, two steel piers, four portals and eight concrete piers.
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