HS2 concrete milestone in the West Midlands
More than half of the concrete needed for HS2’s West Midlands structures has been poured
UK materials suppliers have now provided more than 1 million cubic metres of concrete for HS2 in the West Midlands as the railway’s network of viaducts and bridges continues to take shape. With a total of 1.9 million cubic metres of concrete needed for the 90km stretch of railway structures, this means more than 50% of the required concrete has been used.
HS2’s civils contractors Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) have three concrete suppliers, keeping their order books full for the foreseeable future, and supporting more than 250 jobs. Aggregate Industries, Tarmac, and Cemex have batched and delivered the 1 million cubic metres of concrete, with the milestone recently achieved on the Chattle Hill structure at the Delta Junction in North Warwickshire.
There are 11 local batching plants supplying the concrete, five of which are on HS2 sites. The use of low-carbon concrete mixes is an integral part of BBV’s concrete supply strategy, with high proportions of secondary materials, namely ground granulated blast-furnace slag (ggbs), embedded into the design and specification for all mixes.
The mixes supplied cover a wide range of uses from foundations up to 30m deep as well as large structural elements where the concrete is pumped into place, to the on-site precast factories producing segments for both tunnel lining and the large viaduct spans.
A number of fully electric trucks are being used to transport the concrete to site, with two of HS2’s batching plants able to run off semi-battery technology, further reducing the project’s carbon footprint.
BBV and their suppliers have also implemented a digital measuring system – VERIFI – which allows real-time monitoring, measurement, and management of the fresh concrete during transportation, thereby eliminating waste, cutting carbon, and improving productivity.
Chris Jones, senior construction manager with the Balfour Beatty VINCI joint venture said: ‘The planning, communication, and logistics management needed to achieve this milestone cannot be underestimated. Working in partnership with our three concrete suppliers, the team has kept this massive operation moving, supporting delivery of HS2’s construction programme in the region.
‘Carbon reduction is a big part of our materials strategy, and we’ve worked closely with our supply chain to minimize the total cementitious content in order to cut carbon and cost.’
Aggregate Industries are supplying concrete for the Delta Junction, where 13 viaducts are being built over a complex network of motorways, railway lines and rivers in the North Warwickshire area.
The Chattle Hill structure – where the milestone was achieved – will carry four HS2 tracks over the A446 Lichfield Road on the mainline of the railway between London and Handsacre. The structure is 165m long, 8.3m high, and 23m wide. More than 4,100m3 out of a total of around 10,200m3 of concrete have been used for the structure to date.
Tarmac are supplying concrete to the southern end of the route through Warwickshire, along with Washwood Heath and the Curzon approaches viaducts in Birmingham, whilst Cemex are also providing material in Birmingham, as well as for structures being built in Staffordshire.
