Key Milestone in Construction of 91-Metre-Wide Carol Green Rail Bridge Over West Coast Main Line
Balfour Beatty VINCI has successfully installed 83 massive concrete beams for the 91-metre Carol Green rail bridge, which is set to carry HS2 over the existing West Coast Main Line near Kenilworth. The installation, which took place over 13 consecutive weekends, involved a 500-tonne crawler crane to position the beams, forming the deck of the bridge.
Each beam measures 19 metres in length, with 81 beams weighing 18.1 tonnes and two beams weighing 33 tonnes, amounting to a total weight of 1,532.1 tonnes. Upon completion, the Carol Green rail bridge will span over 20 metres in height and 91 metres in width.
Initially, the bridge will serve as part of a haul road for HS2 construction vehicles, linking the north and south sides of the West Coast Main Line. This temporary route, from the Aston Martin roundabout to Burton Green, aims to reduce construction traffic through the Balsall Common road network, minimizing disruption for local communities.
Once operational, the bridge and its embankments will carry the new HS2 railway diagonally over the existing West Coast Main Line.
The successful operation was delivered by a team of 30 people over 13 consecutive weekends. The pre-cast concrete bridge beams were manufactured in Ashfordby, Melton Mowbray, by FTB JV, a specialist civil and structural engineering partnership comprising Freyssinet, Tierra Armada, and Roger Bullivant.
Shamus Banaghan, Senior Project Manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI, commented on the complexity of constructing a bridge over the West Coast Main Line, praising his operations team and supply chain partners for their efforts. “Working tirelessly across 13 weekend night shifts, together we’ve successfully installed 83 pre-tensioned concrete beams over the existing rail track, forming the bridge deck. Now this phase of work is complete, the Carol Green underbridge is really starting to take shape,” he said.
Jack King, HS2 Project Manager, highlighted the skill and precision required for such an engineering feat and expressed pride in reaching this stage of the bridge’s completion ahead of schedule. “Thank you to everyone involved onsite as we continue to pave the way for Britain’s new high-speed line,” he added.
