HS2 Construction Updates - Birmingham Area

[Fazaar1889]

What exactly will sit on this structure? Why does it need to be so strong?

 

[The Planner]

What exactly will sit on this structure? Why does it need to be so strong?

The throat of the station. I wouldn't say that its more engineered than any other rail bridge.

 

[hwl]

What exactly will sit on this structure? Why does it need to be so strong?

Long span length (>65m) and the start of the alignment opening up from 3 tracks to 7 tracks hence the section built so far getting wider at the station end

 

[Snow1964]

The move, as in the need for road closures was completed. Yes it still needs lowering, but that's not what the closures were for

The closures for lowering and moving onto permanent bearings will be in October, overnights

We are now beginning the removal of the temporary substructure used to
provide stability while the bridge deck was manoeuvred across the
carriageway. The works will involve dismantling the substructure, sliding
beams, and associated supports, with all loads progressively transferred
onto the permanent bearings. This marks the completion of the launch
phase and the bridge’s transition to its permanent structural arrangement.

To ensure the safety of all road users, further closures of Lawley Middleway
will be required. The road will be closed nightly from Garrison Circus to
Curzon Circus between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, starting 3 October until 18
October then a further closure from 24 October until 31 October

https://assets.hs2.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AWN-October-Overnight-closure-of-Lawley-Middleway-V3.pdf

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Sep 2025 ==

HS2 has released a new video of Delta junction area, showing construction of all the viaducts and explaining about type and spans of each, with views of current progress

 

[Jamesrob637]

Leaving Birmingham on a Bournemouth bound train this Wednesday gone, I was amazed how much progress has been done around Curzon Street.

 

[chris2]

HS2 have announced a closure on Gilson Rd.

Traffic management will be introduced on Gilson Road to enable upcoming works on the M42 Water Orton Viaducts. These works are essential to safely construct the viaducts that will span across Gilson Road.

Does this mean they are going to start work on the two missing piers between the long curving lines already constructed approaching the motorway and the two now standing between the main carriageway and the slip road?

 

[Snow1964]

A new drone video of the Bellingham bridge which is still missing part of its arches. Originally the bridge was due to be moved over the railway when line was closed in July. But HS2 said assembling bridge was behind schedule due to lack of trained welders.

Sounds like a lack of HS2 planning and coordination, deciding to go with a welded bridge without checking that welders would be available, or booking early enough sufficient welders to assemble it.

 

[hwl]

A new drone video of the Bellingham bridge which is still missing part of its arches. Originally the bridge was due to be moved over the railway when line was closed in July. But HS2 said assembling bridge was behind schedule due to lack of trained welders.

Sounds like a lack of HS2 planning and coordination, deciding to go with a welded bridge without checking that welders would be available, or booking early enough sufficient welders to assemble it.

Lack of trained welders - possibly due to them being prioritised to fix all the Severfield bridge components with issues? (including the bridge deck moved a couple of weeks ago and few other HS2 structures)

 

[Snow1964]

HS2 have announced a closure on Gilson Rd.

Does this mean they are going to start work on the two missing piers between the long curving lines already constructed approaching the motorway and the two now standing between the main carriageway and the slip road?

There is another notice about M42 overnight closures, which says relocating works to central reservation

As part of our ongoing construction works on the M42 Water Orton Viaducts, our teams continue to construct the parapets to install the viaducts spanning the motorway.

To allow us to complete these works, we will be installing overnight road closures to change the traffic management layout at the Water Orton Viaducts to relocate works into the central reservation.

There will be a full road closure of the M42 northbound carriageway from junction 7 to 9, the M6 connector road northbound from M6 junction 3a to M42 junction 7 and M6 M42 link road eastbound closure from M6 southbound at junction 4a to M42, each night.

To ensure the safety of our workforce, we will be installing an overnight road closure on the M42/M6 Link Road for seven nights, from 9pm each night and re-opening at 5am each morning. See below a breakdown of these overnight closures:

• Monday 29 September
• Tuesday 30 September
• Wednesday 01 October
• Thursday 02 October
• Friday 03 October

Notice of overnight closures of the M42 northbound carriageway, near Water Orton

As part of our ongoing construction works on the M42 Water Orton Viaducts, our teams continue to construct the parapets to install the viaducts spanning the motorway. To allow us to complete these works, we will be installing overnight road closures to change the traffic management layout at the...

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[chris2]

There is another notice about M42 overnight closures, which says relocating works to central reservation

Notice of overnight closures of the M42 northbound carriageway, near Water Orton

As part of our ongoing construction works on the M42 Water Orton Viaducts, our teams continue to construct the parapets to install the viaducts spanning the motorway. To allow us to complete these works, we will be installing overnight road closures to change the traffic management layout at the...

www.hs2.org.uk

Yes I just noticed that, although the pin on the map is in the wrong place if this is indeed related to the viaducts we're talking about.

 

[Snow1964]

New drone video of the Delta junction viaducts, which seem to be progressing, with high level Birmingham branch viaduct now crossing the main route

 

[ABB125]

Here's a few pictures of Washwood Heath I took a few days ago from a flight landing at Birmingham Airport.

 

[Snow1964]

New drone videos of the Coleshill viaducts area have been posted, which includes the south junction of the delta, and the more commoBly videoed north junction area.

Plenty of progress, and the side walls of the dive under for trains from Birmingham heading south can now be seen under construction

Also visible is the point where mainline is going to cross the motorway at a very skew angle, with many of the columns forming abutments now in place. It looks bridge spans are going to be directly across each motorway carriageway to middle so track will run diagonally across bridge.

Construction of embankments between the viaducts only seems to have been done in a few places

A couple of other videos of delta junction viaducts have also been uploaded

 

[stuving]

Also visible is the point where mainline is going to cross the motorway at a very skew angle, with many of the columns forming abutments now in place. It looks bridge spans are going to be directly across each motorway carriageway to middle so track will run diagonally across bridge.

Yes, it (the M42 Coleshill box) is actually a diagonal deck supported by transverse beams, though it looks like the beams don't have visible gaps between them.

Thst's from an HS2 learning legacy document on "Integral Bridges in HS2", which I think is quite old though this version was published in January 2025. It also says:

The baseline design of the M42 Coleshill Box Structure consists of a skewed box structure with inverted T beams integrally connected to supporting walls parallel to the M42 roadways.

The angle between the centerline of the tracks and the centerline of the carriageway is 27°, which following the definition provided in Figure 4, means a 63° skew angle.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Sep 2025 ==

Here is an HS2 video that shows more of the process of moving the Lawley Middleway span into position. It include some close-ups of its current state, though without any of the commentary. You can see it is sitting very close above its bearings, though also that there is a small gap.

 

[Snow1964]

The move, as in the need for road closures was completed. Yes it still needs lowering, but that's not what the closures were for

There are further overnight closures in October to put into final position on bearings and remove the temporary beams used for the slide

In August 2025, we successfully launched the Lawley Middleway Bridge, a
key part of the new railway that will carry High Speed trains over Lawley
Middleway and into Curzon Street Station in the centre of Birmingham.

We are now beginning the removal of the temporary substructure used to provide stability while the bridge deck was manoeuvred across the carriageway. The works will involve dismantling the substructure, sliding beams, and associated supports, with all loads progressively transferred onto the permanent bearings. This marks the completion of the launch phase and the bridge’s transition to its permanent structural arrangement.

Duration of works 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM from 3 October until 18 October. Then, 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM from 24 October until 31 October.

To ensure the safety of all road users, further closures of Lawley Middleway will be required. The road will be closed nightly from Garrison Circus to Curzon Circus between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, starting 3 October until 18
October then a further closure from 24 October until 31 October.

If you need to travel during these hours, please plan ahead. A clearly signed diversion route will be in place for all road users.

https://assets.hs2.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AWN-October-Overnight-closure-of-Lawley-Middleway-V3.pdf

 

[Snow1964]

New HS2 video of the push of southbound viaduct over the M6 at the weekend.

Another push is required to cross the slip road to final position when extra section welded to back. A parallel northbound viaduct will follow in 2026.

This is part of the 4 track section between delta junction and Birmingham Interchange station

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

New drone videos of the Coleshill viaducts area have been posted, which includes the south junction of the delta, and the more commoBly videoed north junction area.

Plenty of progress, and the side walls of the dive under for trains from Birmingham heading south can now be seen under construction

Also visible is the point where mainline is going to cross the motorway at a very skew angle, with many of the columns forming abutments now in place. It looks bridge spans are going to be directly across each motorway carriageway to middle so track will run diagonally across bridge.

Construction of embankments between the viaducts only seems to have been done in a few places

A couple of other videos of delta junction viaducts have also been uploaded

Fabulous drone videos get a real sense of the scale of the construction from being above compared to on the ground.

I guess there done at weekends as there never seems to be a hive of activity on the sites?

 

[Snow1964]

A new drone video of Curzon Street station, showing all the piled foundations and current progress

 

[Snow1964]

A new drone video of viaduct and flyover construction in the delta junction area

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 13 Oct 2025 ==

New video of Curzon Street, with more of the foundations for the new station taking shape

 

[Snow1964]

A new drone video of Curzon Street, with more evidence of huge concrete foundations and steel rebar for pillars appearing.

Also appears lots of temporary supports (painted blue) are now being positioned near the canal, so presumably work to install a bridge here has now started

 

[GraphitProjekt]

Does anyone know what the transformer rating will be for HS2's grid connections? There's one at Burton Green near Coventry, as well as Quainton and Ickenham further south - I would imagine they're all the same rating as each other. I saw on some document about Quainton the mention of 180MVA - but that seems a bit too high to me.

 

[Snow1964]

Does anyone know what the transformer rating will be for HS2's grid connections? There's one at Burton Green near Coventry, as well as Quainton and Ickenham further south - I would imagine they're all the same rating as each other. I saw on some document about Quainton the mention of 180MVA - but that seems a bit too high to me.

To put it into perspective high speed trains can have a power rating of around 8MW for a 200m unit, so 16MW for pair of units.

If each substation covers around 50 route miles (or 100 track miles) then a system designed for a train every 5 minutes at 200mph would have at least 3 trains each way in each section. But it could easily be nearer 6 or 7 trains each way, especially near the termini or Birmingham branch (and depot) within the area of the power supply.

If you take 7 trains x 2 directions x 16MW then get nearer 230MW. Although it's unlikely all the trains would be on full power at same time, so taking say 60% of this, then adding say 20% for growth futureproofing gives a rating that is close to your 180MVA. So probably not excessive once services ramp up.

 

[GraphitProjekt]

I suppose it really shows the difference between 200mph and 125mph. 80MVA seems to be the highest the mainlines go, with plenty of slower lines working off 26, 18 or 10 MVA.
Based on the locations of the midpoints (South Heath, Chipping Warden), Ickenham supplies 25km either way, Quainton does 25km south and 40km north and Burton Green does 34.2km south and apparently 55.4km north. I think under phase 2 there was to be another midpoint at Cuttle Mill (where the eastern leg would branch off) and another feeder at Newlands Lane near Rugeley.
Do we know anything about other high speed lines? (HS1 for instance)

 

[stuving]

A new drone video of Curzon Street, with more evidence of huge concrete foundations and steel rebar for pillars appearing.

Also appears lots of temporary supports (painted blue) are now being positioned near the canal, so presumably work to install a bridge here has now started

This is an HS2 picture, with the caption: "Artist's impression of the view of the Curzon No.3 Viaduct as it crosses Digbeth Branch Canal."

Next to the piers on the eastern side in that video are a couple of odd angular things wrapped in sheeting. I guess those are some pieces of those steel supports with splayed legs (they call them V piers). They don't look like they could support the deck until it's built and they are fixed to it, hence the temporary support pillars.

 

[Snow1964]

Latest drone video of Curzon Street station, with lots of evidence of concrete foundations connecting the piles and rebar for columns.

Work seems to be ongoing cleaning up or refacing the brick side wall of the rail cutting towards New Street. This is close to where the proposed pedestrian connection (Park Street) to the enlarged Moor Street will be.

They also appear to have assembled huge new 3 level site office block other side of old Curzon Street building (and it appears to have a roof terrace. No idea if that is going to a sun terrace for workers or a public viewing area.

There also appears to be lots of temporary supports being erected in the station throat area (between end of concrete viaduct and the Lawley Middleway bridge. Based on image in post #414 I guess this is to hold for work to allow bridge (viaduct ?) to be cast in situ.

There also seems to be sheet piles being installed along edge of New Canal Street (the road with old Curzon station building)

 

[WWTownEnth]

Apologies if this has been confirmed already but is the Leeds dove under still being constructed as part of the the delta junction project?

 

[Snow1964]

Apologies if this has been confirmed already but is the Leeds dove under still being constructed as part of the the delta junction project?

Work has virtually stopped north of the delta viaducts (Faraday Avenue, near Hams Hall or Lea Marston seems to be temporary boundary), with resources diverted further south. Just a few major road or rail bridges north of this seem to be continuing for now.

There is officially a reset under way which should determine how to proceed. Until this is finalised in a few months, not clear what will proceed.

Clearly don't want to make it difficult to restart a part in few years, or add a spur even if it's only a shorter link to another line. On other hand don't want to waste money, but at same time don't want to leave southern section underused by not building any spurs. It's wait and see at moment.

 

[WWTownEnth]

Work has virtually stopped north of the delta viaducts (Faraday Avenue, near Hams Hall or Lea Marston seems to be temporary boundary), with resources diverted further south. Just a few major road or rail bridges north of this seem to be continuing for now.

There is officially a reset under way which should determine how to proceed. Until this is finalised in a few months, not clear what will proceed.

Clearly don't want to make it difficult to restart a part in few years, or add a spur even if it's only a shorter link to another line. On other hand don't want to waste money, but at same time don't want to leave southern section underused by not building any spurs. It's wait and see at moment.

Thank you for that very helpful answer.

 

[Snow1964]

A new drone video of Curzon Street station area.

Lots of work with foundations, various piles being uncovered, and lots of concrete foundations taking place. Some parts seem to have progressed quite quickly, and rebar for pillars is clearly visible.

The road (which fronts the old Curzon Street station and runs diagonally across the site) seems to lots of new foundations either side

Towards the end of the video, the large steel bridge that was moved into place over Lawley Middleway is now being extended, and a huge green crane can be seen lifting sections

 

[WWTownEnth]

Very significant progress indeed. That great stage where all the groundwork suddenly starts to show dramatically.