HS2: London to Birmingham in under 50 minutes
London / UK
Design and delivery of C1 section: ALIGN joint venture (Bouygues Travaux Publics / Sir Robert McAlpine / VolkerFitzpatrick)
The high-speed rail line is the United Kingdom’s biggest transport infrastructure project and the country’s second high-speed line after the opening of the connection between London and the Channel Tunnel. The line will depart from London and connect non-stop with Birmingham, and then fork in the direction of Manchester and Leeds. It will free up freight and passenger capacity on existing lines. Execution of the C1 section northwest of London has just begun. The 21.6 km rail infrastructure includes a 3.4 km viaduct and two 15.75 km tunnels. This is a technically complex project, with large constructions in a protected natural area (the Colne Valley and the Chilterns).
Our teams say thank you to the Krokodyl robot on public works construction sites
Designed by Bouygues Travaux Publics and introduced for the first time in a tunnelling machine on the HS2 project, the robot reduces the number of tasks performed by hand when removing wooden spacers separating the stacked concrete tunnel lining segments weighing 8.5 tonnes during the storage phases.
Key figures
1,500
employees at the peak
5,5 year
year project duration
3,4 km
3,4 km viaduct
15,75 km
Two 15,75 km tunnels
Further information
Did you know?
The HS2 project’s two tunnelling machines, named Florence and Cecilia, will operate 24 hours a day. 170 metres long and weighing 2,000 tonnes, they are the biggest ever used on a British rail project.
Ground and foundation engineering works: VSL preparing the ground for building the tunnels and the viaduct
Before starting to bore the tunnel, Bouygues Construction subsidiary VSL conducted site investigation work and pile testing in a joint venture with Keller on behalf of Align. The teams then carried out ground reinforcement works on the tunnel’s south portal, which will be the entry point for the tunnelling machines, and the diaphragm wall for the first ventilation shaft. The KVJV joint venture will also be responsible for construction of the piled foundations for the viaducts, grouting works, retaining structures for four other ventilation shafts, and ground improvement works for the creation of the tunnel cross passages.
