In that video, if you stop at 1m 22s, can anyone explain the concrete pier over to the left that seems to be turned at 90° and away from the main line of route? Can that sort of pier be fully built up and then moved later, it seems normal to see them built over a piled foundation at their permanent site?
The Cross City line between Birmingham and Lichfield Trent Valley will close for 9 days from 26 July till 3 August so HS2 can build the new viaduct as mentioned in the video of #336
Passengers warned of delays when Cross City Line shuts between Lichfield and Birmingham this summer - Lichfield Live®
Passengers in Lichfield are being warned of a lengthy closure of the Cross City Line this summer.lichfieldlive.co.uk
Fabulous drone videos shows the challenge of construction above ground in urban areas. Have to say Curzon St Stn looks well behind where Old Oak Common is for what should have been an easier stn to construct.
They've only just started on the station footprint though. The priory was clearly the approaches and the bridges which are fairly advanced.
www.theconstructionindex.co.uk
If the video is stopped at 38s in, just before it gets dark, in the centre foreground there’s a concrete pier that seems to be completely off the line of the eventual viaduct. I’ve asked about it before but either nobody noticed the question, or knew the answer. I hope no-one minds me asking again?
I think it was a test construction, not sure if it will stay like a piece of modern art, or be taken away eventually, reassembled in correct position, or just left there until someone redevelops the site.
Ah right, could it be that straightforward?
Looks like it.
Thanks for taking the time to find that, it’s a video I must have missed at the time it was published, and as you say the ‘trial pier‘ was mentioned.Looks like it.
The very first post of this thread celebrates the "first giant V-shaped pier for the viaduct", visible at 0m19s.
Yet in the same video, your offline V-pier is already complete, visible at 1m03s.
So it would have been a prototype installation to test out the construction method, which is also explained in that video:
HS2’s first Birmingham viaduct pier completed as work ramps up on city centre site
First iconic pier revealed for HS2’s 300 metres long Curzon viaduct, which will bring high speed trains into Birmingham city centre Embedded carbon in the piers reduced by 60% through eco-friendly by-product from the steel industry New images reveal the big construction milestone for HS2 in the...mediacentre.hs2.org.uk
It is seen there still in its initial position. The roller skates forming the main support near the middle have been removed, and those under the back end (for its coming move) need to be turned through 90°.
That’s certainly more than the 12m a day they publicised!
Interesting the wheels under the rear modular support transporters are always at right angles to where you would expect them to be. Maybe its the parked position between pushes but seems to be putting a lot of stress on the wheels to turn them through 90 degrees for each move. Anyhow very impressive Gerry Anderson would have been proud.
Yes, it looks to have moved three steps forwards. The transverse beam on the wheeled supports on the nearer pier is now close to mid-span; it was at the far end of the span. It must have been detached and moved back with the whole thing supported at both ends.
I wondered if all the individual wheels are turned 90° during a movement cycle, and then turned back to sideways orientation once the move is complete, which would effectively make it an anchor against movement towards the road. One of the videos I’ve seen shows evidence of tyre scuff marks over quite a wide area under the structure, as though they were being forced to move.
That's what happens. Each axle is individually steerable, so the SPMT can go round curves or move crabwise.
I’ve looked right through the video at slow (1/4) speed, and at about 20-24 seconds in you can see the SPMT wheels change direction by 90°. Sorted.HS2 has issued article, bridge move completed 4 days early
Huge HS2 bridge move completed in Birmingham four days ahead of schedule
HS2 engineers have moved a 1,631 tonne steel bridge into place over Lawley Middleway in Birmingham four days ahead of schedule This is the next step in building the one mile stretch of five connected viaducts bringing high-speed trains into Birmingham Curzon Street Station View and embed new...
Best to slow it down and zoom in.I don't see that! The big initial turn ends at about 0:19, and the next thing seen after the video cut is movement lengthwise. Between the two is a 90° wheel rotation that we always knew had to happen, but I don't see it on the video. The wheel-waggling after 0:20 is a slight adjustment in position during the move into the pier, not the kind of locking 90° turn evidenced in the earlier pictures.I’ve looked right through the video at slow (1/4) speed, and at about 20-24 seconds in you can see the SPMT wheels change direction by 90°. Sorted.
