HS2 engineers have lifted the last of six enormous viaduct spans that will carry high speed trains over the M42 at Water Orton in Warwickshire.

A section of the motorway was closed during the weekend and the complex multi-stage operation was completed in the early hours of Monday morning (September 21) with the motorway reopening at around 4am as planned.

To take full advantage of the closure, a separate team – three miles to the south – spent the weekend lifting the last beams that will support another major HS2 bridge known as the ‘twin box’.

The 300-metre-long structure near the NEC is formed of two boxes that will support the railway as it passes over the carriageways.

The final Water Orton span being lifted across the M42. Credit: HS2.

placeholder image — The final Water Orton span being lifted across the M42. Credit: HS2.

This approach has been chosen because of the angle at which the railway must cross the motorway.

The operations at both sites – which builds on progress over four weekends this summer - was led by HS2’s West Midlands construction partner, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV).

Engineers can now proceed to the final stages of construction - installing the remaining parapets along the sides of the Water Orton viaducts, and the final concrete pours on the twin box ready for railway tracks to be laid.

HS2 is now at the peak of construction, with site teams focused on boosting productivity route wide.

This is happening in parallel with Chief Executive Mark Wild’s comprehensive reset of the project, ‘designed to ensure that the remainder of the work is delivered as efficiently as possible and for the lowest reasonable cost’.

Agnes Usciak, HS2 Ltd’s senior project manager said: “I’d like to thank motorists and local residents for their patience during this huge programme of work – our biggest yet over the motorway network.

“Splitting a huge construction programme into four separate weekends requires meticulous planning, and our engineers executed the entire operation with pin-point precision, ensuring the motorway reopened on time, every time.

"Structural completion of the Water Orton viaducts and the twin box means the end is in sight for our bumper programme of motorway works this year.”

In the coming days, BBV’s engineers will extend Water Orton 2 by a further 40-metres, closing the final gap above Gilson Road.

There will be a further closure of the M42 from 9pm on Friday October 23 to 5am on Monday October 26 to install the viaduct’s parapets on the sections directly above the motorway.

To make full use of the closure, that the same weekend engineers will also carry out the fourth and final slide of the M6 South Viaduct West deck.

The M6 carriageway will stay open during these works - only the M42 North to M6 North connector road will be closed.

Progress is also being made on other parts of the project with the platforms now in place at Old Oak Common, the first ‘green tunnel’ complete and the Curzon 2 viaduct on the approach to Curzon Street now in place.

To find out more about HS2 in and around Warwickshire visit https://tinyurl.com/26533v7a