HS2 workers remove M42 bridge in West Midlands

A team of twenty demolition experts has removed a four-thousand-tonne two-span bridge over the M42 in the West [1] to make way for [2].

The workers, from [3]-based firm Armac Demolition, worked night and day, using eight fifty-tonne excavators and two forty-tonne excavators to remove the bridge during a planned fifty-six-hour closure of the motorway. The structure was forty metres long and ten metres wide. Its material was transported in six articulated dumper trucks to a local stockpile where it will be crushed and reused by [4] on its haul roads and working areas.

The M42 closed at 00.25 on Saturday 12 August, when a team of thirty workers removed the motorway vehicle restraint system and installed protective matting. The demolition team then removed the bridge deck, wing walls, central pier and abutments between 07.30 and 17.00 on Saturday 12 August. The matting was then removed, the carriageway cleaned, and the central reservation and verge restraint systems reinstated. The motorway reopened at 15.00 on Sunday 13 August.

The workers completed the job ahead of schedule, so the M42 reopened fourteen hours early.

HS2 generic Computer-generated visuals of a high speed train, HS2 // Credit: HS2

HS2's civils contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) hired Armac to demolish the bridge near HS2's Interchange Station construction site in [5]. HS2 Ltd and BBV worked with National Highways and its suppliers to facilitate the demolition, which involved diverting or removing all existing motorway technology. During the last year, BBV has also diverted power and telecommunications cables away from the structure.

The bridge carried the A452 over the M42, and was removed to allow for the construction of a new twin-box structure which will carry the high speed line over the motorway. The A452 will now be carried by a new, improved road structure and roundabout built by HS2, which will will enable access to the new HS2 Interchange Station.

BBV will now start to build the twin-box structure which will carry HS2 trains over the M42. The structure will be three hundred metres long and twenty-five metres wide and will cover around one hundred and thirty metres of the M42. BBV will build it in position while keeping three lanes of traffic flowing on the M42.

HS2 train HS2 train // Credit: gov.uk

Ian Clarke, Senior Project Manager at HS2 Ltd said: “This is another fantastic milestone for our civils team in the West [6], as construction of HS2 moves on at pace. The team did a brilliant job to get the demolition finished way ahead of schedule, meaning the motorway could be reopened much earlier than anticipated.”

“In this region, over 9,750 people are working on the many complex and exciting feats of engineering to build HS2 over the existing network of roads, railways, rivers and canals – creating our new zero carbon railway to connect [7], the Midlands and the North.”Oliver Shore, Construction Director at Balfour Beatty VINCI said:

“It is through relentless collaboration with HS2 and National Highways that we have achieved this latest milestone in less than two days, overcoming technical and logistical challenges along the way.

“The demolition of the existing M42 bridge will kickstart the next phase of works, with our attention now turning to the construction of the new twin box structure which is designed to carry Britain's new zero carbon railway – HS2 – over the motorway.”National Highways Senior Network Planner, Frank Bird said:

“We'd like to thank motorists for their patience while the work took place and for following our diversion routes during the closure.

“This bridge demolition was a really big project and we have worked closely with HS2 over the past few months to plan the closure of the M42 and to try and limit disruption during the work.

“Given the complexity of the work involved, we're really pleased to see the work completed ahead of time and it's testament to the hard work of those involved that we could open the road earlier than planned.”

Noel McLean, Technical Director from Solihull-based Armac Demolition said: ‘'Armac were delighted to be working again in collaboration with our HS2 partners BBV on the first of three major bridge demolition projects in this section. The detailed planning that had been put into the project over the last 12 months by BBV and Armac resulted in an excellent performance over the weekend.

“A safely executed project, completed well ahead of the closure schedule, and not a single mark on the carriageway. Great performance by all involved – looking forward to the next one.”

References

  1. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  2. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  3. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  4. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  5. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  6. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)
  7. ^ (www.railadvent.co.uk)

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