{"id":241098,"date":"2025-06-24T20:09:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T10:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=179031"},"modified":"2025-06-24T20:09:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T10:09:59","slug":"hs2-completes-three-day-northants-viaduct-slide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=241098","title":{"rendered":"HS2 completes three-day Northants viaduct slide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

HS2 has revealed new timelapse footage showing engineers carefully sliding a 1,300-tonne viaduct deck into position near the Northants village of Thorpe Mandeville.<\/p>\n

The steel and concrete deck of the Lower Thorpe viaduct \u2013 which stretches for 220 metres \u2013 was assembled to one side before being slid into position in just three days, reaching the north abutment on Friday 20th June.<\/p>\n

Set into a valley, the viaduct will carry high speed trains across Banbury Lane and help manage flood risk by ensuring that rainwater can continue to run off into existing watercourses. Made of a distinctive russet-coloured weathering steel, it has been designed to help match the natural tones of the surrounding countryside.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

During the slide, special pads covered in PTFE – a Teflon-like material usually found on the surface of a non-stick frying pan – were used to minimise friction between the deck and the temporary steel bearings on top of each of the five concrete piers.<\/p>\n

It is the last of five viaducts being built using this technique by HS2\u2019s main works contractor responsible for the central section of the new railway, EKFB – a team made up of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction, and BAM Nuttall \u2013 working with specialists at Eiffage Metal.<\/p>\n

With the steelwork now in position, engineers can begin the next stage of the operation, lowering the deck 60cm onto the permanent bearings before work on the concrete deck and parapets can begin.<\/p>\n

HS2 Ltd Project Manager Sam Arrowsmith, said: \u201cIt\u2019s great to see the viaduct deck in position and I\u2019d like the thank everyone who\u2019s helped get us to where we are today. The slide may only have taken three days, but it was the culmination of four years of work \u2013 developing the design, completing the groundworks and the piers and assembling the enormous steelwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

EKFB is delivering 15 major viaducts for HS2 between the Chilterns and South Warwickshire. Lower Thorpe is the last of five that are being slid into position.<\/p>\n

As well as similar installation techniques, the five viaducts also share a novel \u2018double composite\u2019 structure which uses significantly less carbon-intensive concrete and steel than a more traditional design.<\/p>\n

Instead of using solid pre-stressed concrete beams to form the spans between the viaduct piers, the hollow structure is based around steel beams along the side, with layers of reinforced concrete on the top and bottom to create a stronger and more efficient span.<\/p>\n

This helps cut the carbon footprint of the viaducts by between 39% and 59% in comparison to a traditional approach using pre-stressed concrete beams lifted into place with a crane. It also allows for longer spans and shallower beams.<\/p>\n

EKFB Technical Director Janice McKenna, said: \u201cThe strategic design approach applied to these double composite structures has been a game-changer in how we\u2019re building these viaducts. The double composite solution can be applied to multiple structures in different locations, and we have five across EKFB\u2019s 50-mile route that are all well into construction.<\/p>\n

“The philosophy was to design the viaducts with architectural input to ‘blend’ the structures into their respective landscapes and reduce the visual impact on the environment. We also required a solution that offered specific delivery benefits too, from saving embedded carbon in the materials we use, to enhancing productivity on site and reducing safety risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once complete, the viaduct will carry high speed trains between London and the West Midlands, improving journeys between the UK\u2019s two largest cities and freeing up space on the existing mainline for more freight and local services.<\/p>\n

The other four double composite viaducts \u2013 Wendover Wean, Small Dean, Westbury and Turweston \u2013 are all at a later stage of construction. The most advanced is at Westbury, near Brackley, where engineers are now working on the concrete deck on top of the beam which will carry the track and parapets.<\/p>\n

This is being created using a cantilever formwork traveller. This is effectively a mould that allows engineers to quickly and efficiently pour each of the eight spans individually. Once a concrete pour is completed, winches pull the traveller forward to complete the next section.<\/p>\n

This reduces the number of pours, eliminates the need for cranes and makes the process more efficient and cost-effective. The lighter, easier-to-install traveller also improves safety by providing better access for operatives, reducing the risk of accidents.<\/p>\n

Image credit: HS2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>HS2 has revealed new timelapse footage showing engineers carefully sliding a 1,300-tonne viaduct deck into position near the Northants village of Thorpe Mandeville. The steel and concrete deck of the Lower Thorpe viaduct \u2013 which stretches for 220 metres \u2013 was assembled to one side before being slid into position in just three days, reaching [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1089,16017,343,47,16148,16031,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hs2","category-industry-news","category-infrastructure","category-rail-news","category-rail-projects","category-structures","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241098"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241133,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241098\/revisions\/241133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}