The joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Vinci (BBV) has begun preparations for an innovative "box slide" railway bridge for the transport of high-speed 2 trains on the M42 road in North Warwickshire-the first in the UK This type of train.
The "Marsdon box" structure will weigh 10,000 tons, have three walls and a roof, and be built on the land near the highway. After construction is complete, the high-tech raft will slide the box into place.
This innovation will significantly reduce traffic disruptions. The bridge was originally planned to be built in the traditional way, which would force the lane width to be shortened by two years, the speed limit was 50 miles, and it would be closed at night and on weekends.
Since the slide was built far away from the road and moved into place at a time, only M42 needs to be closed twice, each for a week. The first plan is to take place between Christmas and New Years to make preparations, including the removal of the highway surface, the removal of excess fuel pipes, and the removal of the existing drainage system that will be reinstalled elsewhere. Ground preparations will also be carried out.
The second one-week closure will take place in the winter of 2022, when the box will be moved into place on the highway.
In order to do this, a reinforced concrete slab will be created as a guide raft, with a box built on top. Then a lifting system operated by the structural engineering company Freyssinet pushes the box, which can move the box at a speed of more than 2m per hour. At this rate, the operation should take four days.
David Speight, HS2 Customer Project Director, said: "At HS2 Ltd, we are always looking for innovative ways to reduce our impact on the local community, and this UK's first "box slide" provides a faster and safer solution.
"We are working closely with National Highways to ensure that the traffic management plan is in place and there are clearly signed diversion routes to minimize any impact during highway closures."
BBV site agent Chris Hurrell said: "At Balfour Beatty Vinci, we want to promote innovative solutions that benefit the local community, and we are committed to transforming the UK's rail network.
"Through forward-looking thinking methods such as'box slides', we were able to use the skills and expertise of more than 100 interdisciplinary personnel to significantly reduce the disturbance to the public and shorten the highway closure time to just 12 months. Within a week."
Frank Bird, Senior National Highway Work Planner, added: “We have been working closely with colleagues at HS2 Ltd. We plan to close during the Christmas season because we know that the main highway A and highways are relatively quiet. Although we understand this closure There will be some disturbance to this part of M42, but we will upgrade and complete hundreds of miles of road works across the country between Christmas and New Year to help keep traffic flowing.
"We encourage all motorists to familiarize themselves with the diversion route before departure and allow extra time for their journey. We also want to remind people of the importance of checking their vehicles before departure. Simple things, such as checking your fuel and oil level , Tire pressure and all the lights are working properly, allowing you to continue to move forward and the network is unblocked."
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Tagged as: Balfour Beatty box jack box slide hs2 Vinci
Despite the huge development efforts of the HS2-Balfour Beatty and Vinci teams, Freyssinet and NR/Costain completed the autofoncage box bridge solution on the Network Rail line of Immingham in December 2015; refer to http:// www.freyssinet.com/freyssinet/wfreyssinet_en.nsf/sb/new-structures.bridge-slide-immingham-autofoncage
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