M42 bridge near Birmingham Airport is demolished after being hit 20 times by lorries and cars

A motorway bridge on the M42 near Birmingham Airport, which was hit more than 20 times by vehicles in the last decade, has been demolished. The bridge, located between junctions seven and six, was damaged beyond repair after being struck twice in one week by lorries in January.

Since then, lane restrictions have been in place to prevent further hits, causing significant traffic issues for M42 drivers. A team of 20 demolition experts from Solihull-based firm Armac, working for HS2 contractors Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), carried out a 52-hour operation to demolish the bridge., reports Birmingham Live^[1].

The damaged bridge, between junction 6 for the M6 junction 4) and six (Birmingham Airport) was removed under a full closure of the M42 from Friday, February 9 until the early hours of Monday, February 12. The M42 is now fully re-open, with live traffic system INRIIX reporting the Birmingham Airport junction was clear of delays, after weeks of congestion.

The A452 bridge, used by HS2 construction crews, was set to be dismantled next year as part of the HS2 project. However, it was decided to bring its demolition forward for cost-effectiveness.

Time-lapse footage showed the scale of the project, with teams working overnight to remove the structure. After the bridge was taken down on Saturday afternoon, the debris was cleared away and the motorway prepared for reopening.

This bridge was one of two 4,000-tonne bridges over the M42 that needed to be demolished for HS2's new twin box structure. The first bridge was taken down last August.

Frank Bird, a senior network planner at National Highways^[4], expressed his delight at being able to reopen the motorway earlier than expected. He thanked people for their patience since the bridge was hit last month.

"Our engineers investigated whether a repair was possible but as the bridge was due to be removed as part of HS2's works in the area next year anyway, a decision was taken to bring that forward so we could eliminate the possibility of any further bridge strikes and get all lanes under the structure reopened as soon as possible."

"This has been a challenging task as normally a demolition such as this would be planned over many months. Instead, everyone involved was able to mobilise resources to get it down in a matter of weeks. It has been a terrific collaborative effort with HS2 Ltd and all others involved and one I am sure road users will appreciate with all lanes now open."

References

1. ^{^} reports Birmingham Live (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Flooding closes A417 and full list of roads closed today (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Air ambulance called to serious collision with children hurt (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)
4. ^{^} National Highways (nationalhighways.co.uk)