HS2 Progress at Calvert

[LNW-GW Joint]

The East West Railway bridge over HS2 at Calvert has been lifted into place - pictures here:
https://mediacentre.hs2.org.uk/reso...to-warwickshire/calvert-east-west-rail-bridge

Two of the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects celebrated a joint milestone this week after a new bridge - that will carry direct rail services between Oxford and Cambridge - was lifted into position over the route of HS2, the high speed rail line under construction between London, Birmingham and the North.
Engineers working for HS2 used an enormous 600 tonne crane to lift the new bridge into position north of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
The bridge deck - which weighs the same as 25 double decker buses - will carry East West Rail services linking Oxford, Bicester, Bedford and Cambridge, largely along a route that was closed in the 1960s.

Most of the EWR approach embankments have still to be constructed.
Construction of the HS2 Calvert cutting continues below the new bridge.
The HS2 construction and maintenance depot will be built in the north-east quadrant between the lines.

 

[Fazaar1889]

https://twitter.com/HS2ltd/status/1602985757442015232?t=M_bw2WWL4M9JrJKtHS_kqg&s=19

Time lapse seen here

 

[Sebastian O]

It's amazing how quickly they can put a bridge for a non existent railway in, over a non existent railway.. take that tabloids who say NR work slowly!

 

[gg1]

Interesting that the HS2 element appears to be wide enough to take 4 tracks, even after taking into account the larger loading gauge.

Has it been built with passive position for future quadrupling (something which I didn't think was factored in to the HS2 design) or is it simply just to allow wider clearances between trains and abutments than is the case for classic lines?

 

[zwk500]

Is it just the angle, or will EWR have quite a sharp gradient to get up and over HS2?

 

[Sonik]

Interesting that the HS2 element appears to be wide enough to take 4 tracks, even after taking into account the larger loading gauge.

Has it been built with passive position for future quadrupling (something which I didn't think was factored in to the HS2 design) or is it simply just to allow wider clearances between trains and abutments than is the case for classic lines?

IIRC there will be emergency passenger loops somewhere near Calvert, to park disabled trains. Not sure if these extend under the bridge though.

Also I'd expect parallel road vehicle access will be provided for maintenance of switches.

Edit: This document shows a layout on page 15 with three tracks under the bridge i.e. loop on the up side only.

 

[The Planner]

Interesting that the HS2 element appears to be wide enough to take 4 tracks, even after taking into account the larger loading gauge.

Has it been built with passive position for future quadrupling (something which I didn't think was factored in to the HS2 design) or is it simply just to allow wider clearances between trains and abutments than is the case for classic lines?

Three tracks, as one is needed to get into the maintenance depot and road acess either side.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

IIRC there will be emergency passenger loops somewhere near Calvert, to park disabled trains. Not sure if these extend under the bridge though.
Also I'd expect parallel road vehicle access will be provided for maintenance of the crossover switches.

Well there's bound to be access to the route maintenance depot on the NE side of HS2.
Rail materials will also be delivered from this site during construction, so it will be a very busy location long before opening.

 

[gg1]

Three tracks, as one is needed to get into the maintenance depot and road acess either side.

Thanks, that makes sense.

 

[Sonik]

Is it just the angle, or will EWR have quite a sharp gradient to get up and over HS2?

I think you are right, the doc I posted previous says the IMD was raised by 3m to reduce drainage requirements. Presumably EWR has been raised to be level with that.

 

[swt_passenger]

Is it just the angle, or will EWR have quite a sharp gradient to get up and over HS2?

I think it will be reasonable but not excessive, the distance available for the EWR tracks to rise and fall is well over 3 km, with most on the east side, and the HS2 tracks will be somewhat lower than local ground level. The visible brick arch bridge is removed, and the next bridge towards Bicester is almost 900m distant. EWR was originally in a shallow cutting w.r.t local ground level, and will now be on a relatively low embankment. The south to east HS2 curve for an access route towards the depot was withdrawn from the scheme, (as was discussed in the previous thread), so that might allow the EWR embankment heading towards the east to have a more gradual descent.

 

[zwk500]

I think it will be reasonable but not excessive, the distance available for the EWR tracks to rise and fall is well over 3 km, with most on the east side, and the HS2 tracks will be somewhat lower than local ground level. The visible brick arch bridge is removed, and the next bridge towards Bicester is almost 900m distant. EWR was originally in a shallow cutting w.r.t local ground level, and will now be on a relatively low embankment. The south to east HS2 curve for an access route towards the depot was withdrawn from the scheme, (as was discussed in the previous thread), so that might allow the EWR embankment heading towards the east to have a more gradual descent.

The arch bridge being removed makes a lot of sense, I did wonder if that was part of EWR's plans. Thanks.

 

[InOban]

It's amazing how quickly they can put a bridge for a non existent railway in, over a non existent railway.. take that tabloids who say NR work slowly!

As with all major railway construction, the work will be carried out by private contractors, not NR employees.

 

[swt_passenger]

The arch bridge being removed makes a lot of sense, I did wonder if that was part of EWR's plans. Thanks.

If you check on the attachment below, (which still includes the cancelled South to east maintenance curve), the profile diagram, ie the red and green lines below the map, suggest that the EWR overbridge is actually at local ground level:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/529514/C222-ATK-CV-DPP-020-000009-FPD.pdf

 

[zwk500]

If you check on the attachment below, (which still includes the cancelled South to east maintenance curve), the profile diagram, ie the red and green lines below the map, suggest that the EWR overbridge is actually at local ground level:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/529514/C222-ATK-CV-DPP-020-000009-FPD.pdf

Cheers, that plan helps clear up the last photo - behind the arch bridge you can see two concrete abutments almost at road level, so that plan confirms that effectively EWR and the road will be vertically swapped round.

 

[swt_passenger]

Cheers, that plan helps clear up the last photo - behind the arch bridge you can see two concrete abutments almost at road level, so that plan confirms that effectively EWR and the road will be vertically swapped round.

If you look at photos 5 and 6 in the post linked below, (it’s in the EWR thread), they are fairly recent views from the brick arch bridge, the first shows clearly how the EWR formation has been lifted, especially if you compare it with the before condition still showing on Google Streetview.

East-West Rail (EWR): Oxford-Bletchley construction progress

Railways are very beautiful things Indeed so! Perhaps someone should build a new one in Bedford…

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[ShadowKnight]

If you check on the attachment below, (which still includes the cancelled South to east maintenance curve), the profile diagram, ie the red and green lines below the map, suggest that the EWR overbridge is actually at local ground level:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/529514/C222-ATK-CV-DPP-020-000009-FPD.pdf

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but does this mean that there will be a link between EWR and the depot? The tracks get awfully close to each other

 

[zwk500]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but does this mean that there will be a link between EWR and the depot? The tracks get awfully close to each other

Yes, EWR will be used for rail access to/from the HS2 IMD. However there will only be 1 curve, the North-to-East one. The southern curve is, as mentioned, canned for the moment.

 

[Fazaar1889]

https://twitter.com/HS2ltd/status/1628711274270887936

Made of weathering steel, the 34m East West Rail bridge is designed to naturally age over time to a dark brown colour to help match the tone of the surrounding countryside. It was lifted into position with a 600-tonne crawler crane.

New video of the bridge where HS2 and East West Rail overlap. I think it looks quite nice although he disagrees in the comments

 

[snowball]

A lot of work to be done on the approach embankments in the next few months if the E-W rail trackbed is to be handed back on time.