HS2 construction updates

[swt_passenger]

Any thoughts on what those credible alternatives are?

If there are any won’t they be in the dedicated thread already?

Shapps "promised to scrap HS2 Golborne spur"

sorry we are at cross purposes; I meant the old tunnels, not the base tunnels. We certainly didn’t do 200kph (or anything near it!) up to or through the original Lötschberg tunnel last time I used it. More like 50kph (it was raining and the loco was slipping badly). Many freights are planned...

www.railforums.co.uk

or the speculation version:

Alternatives to the Golborne Spur?

Since it is now official that the Golborne spur is scrapped and there is no current proposed alternative, what options could there be to connect HS2 to the WCML? Its unlikely that they've scrapped the link to be more ambitious with the connection, but who knows. The cheap, and probably likely...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

So we have saved £2-3 billion on the build cost, but haven't the faintest idea how equivalent or better benefits can be provided to the Golborne link.
We also now have opposing HS2 and NPR schemes in the area, both bidding to spend the £96 billion allocated in the IRP.
I can see the political benefits of deferring the Golborne scheme (in terms of getting the reduced Bill through parliament).
But it does nothing for the strategic planning of improved connectivity in the north west and to Scotland.
And we now have a "west versus east" conflict on high speed services to Scotland, begun with the axing of the eastern leg and now the Golborne link.

 

[Cowley]

If there are any won’t they be in the dedicated thread already?

Shapps "promised to scrap HS2 Golborne spur"

sorry we are at cross purposes; I meant the old tunnels, not the base tunnels. We certainly didn’t do 200kph (or anything near it!) up to or through the original Lötschberg tunnel last time I used it. More like 50kph (it was raining and the loco was slipping badly). Many freights are planned...

www.railforums.co.uk

or the speculation version:

Alternatives to the Golborne Spur?

Since it is now official that the Golborne spur is scrapped and there is no current proposed alternative, what options could there be to connect HS2 to the WCML? Its unlikely that they've scrapped the link to be more ambitious with the connection, but who knows. The cheap, and probably likely...

www.railforums.co.uk

Yes as above really. There are a couple threads available there to be used so that we can keep this one on topic.

Thanks everyone.

 

[snowball]

From Construction Enquirer:

Tory leadership battle delays bidding for HS2 phase 2a

Prequalification for £5.2bn-£7.2bn route to Crewe put back to September

www.constructionenquirer.com

Tory leadership battle delays bidding for HS2 phase 2a​

The hiatus in decision-taking caused by the Tory leadership race has delayed procurement of the main works civils framework for phase 2a of HS2.

Prequalification for main civil engineering works on the 5.2bn to £7.2bn West Midlands to Crewe stretch of the scheme originally was expected to start in July.

Prospective bidders have now been told that “as a result of the ongoing leadership changes in government, the approvals we need to issue the PQQ have been delayed”.

Procurement chiefs are now hoping to get sign-off to proceed with the long-awaited bid contest before the end of September but said they would confirm a new date when there is more certainty about the timing.

Previously HS2 intended to split section 2a into two major civils worth together over £1.6bn.

But latest thinking suggests the 58km section will now be split up into seven civils packages.

In the meantime, HS2 is planning to update firms on the latest commercial model that will be used later this month to keep the process on track.

Main civil engineering works for Phase 2a of the project will include two bored tunnels totalling 2.5km, 17 viaducts of 6.2km, 61 bridges, 19million m3 of embankments, 20million m3 of cuttings

This month HS2 was also due to announce the £500m Design and Delivery Partner for the projects.

Shortlisted bidders are: 2 Connect JV (AECOM /Costain Integrated Services); AMS JV (Atkins /Mace Consult / SYSTRA; and Jacobs UK.

Bam Nuttal, Galliford Try, Laing O’Rourke and Skanska are also waiting to hear this month on the outcome of their race for a £240m two-part enabling works contract.

This second stage enabling works deal follows on from Kier’s earlier £50m first stage highways and utility enabling works award.

The three-year deal splits work along the route into two separate packages with one contractor delivering the works on the northern sections and a separate contractor delivering works for the southern sections.

Advanced civil works are due to begin this Autumn.

 

[jfowkes]

Also from Construction Enquirier:

Faults found on giant HS2 green tunnel segments

www.constructionenquirer.com

Faults found on giant HS2 green tunnel segments​

Problems have been discovered on giant precast concrete segments being used to build a new HS2 “green tunnel” in Northamptonshire.

The Enquirer understands that urgent tests are being carried-out on segments erected on the 2.5km Chipping Warden Green Tunnel where work started earlier this year.
Site sources said the part-erected tunnel may have to be demolished depending on the extent of the issues.
The tunnel segments are being made by Stanton Precast in Ilkeston Derbyshire for main contractor EKFB – a team made up of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall.
The Chipping Warden Green Tunnel will eventually consist of more than five thousand concrete tunnel segments before being covered by earth, with trees, shrubs and hedgerows planted to fit in with the surrounding countryside.
All 5,020 segments will be steel reinforced, with the largest weighing up to 43 tonnes.
Chipping Warden is one of a series of green tunnels planned on phase one of the HS2 project.
An HS2 spokesperson said: “Chipping Warden is the first of three green tunnels made of precast segments and it’s important that we take the time to get the quality assurance and installation process right.
“We have recently identified quality issues with some of the segments and we are currently conducting tests to determine whether remedial work is needed.
“No decision has been made yet and we are actively engaging with our supply chain partners to resolve the problem.”

I'm not sure if this is actually a big deal or not?

 

[najaB]

Not sure if this is actually a big deal or not?

Sounds like they don't know either yet.

The Enquirer understands that urgent tests are being carried-out on segments erected on the 2.5km Chipping Warden Green Tunnel where work started earlier this year.

Site sources said the part-erected tunnel may have to be demolished depending on the extent of the issues.

 

[Jozhua]

You'd have though that a longer tunnel would be preferable for numerous reasons, amongst which I believe the original plan had the line going through a nature reserve (the green area around the River Tame south and east of Castle Vale). Surely the line no longer going through the nature reserve is better?
Oh wait - NIMBYs don't see logic like this...

British NIMBYs would almost certainly get a podium position if mental gymnastics becomes an Olympic sport. Of course, US/Californian NIMBYs would almost certainly win gold!

Government has just published review of Crewe-Manchester section dated April 2022

High Speed 2 (HS2) Crewe to Manchester: accounting officer assessment (April 2022)

www.gov.uk

The cancellation of it was purely a political decision. I expect it will be re-announced under the next government, possibly along with HS2 l'est.

Once people see the London - Birmingham and Birmingham - Crewe, Crewe - Manchester legs, I think there will be more public support for expansion.

Of course, the delay will likely increase costs further, but a delayed link is better than no link.

If MML electrification and hope valley are anything to go by, I expect we'll see the link back on the table in a couple of years.

 

[david_g]

An update from the construction site at Wormleighton: I posted some photos of work here eighteen months ago, there will eventually be a deep four track (two running lines plus maintenance loops) cutting here. There is little sign on progress on the cutting itself (possibly some further north, the footpath giving better views is closed for the duration). More clearance has taken place, the width of the cleared corridor along the route is something which has attracted comment, and there have been some serious haul roads built of which this is an example. If it's like others in the area this will end up with road markings for two way running. There are more roadways over on the right where the cones are. The view is looking in the Birmingham direction from the Wormleighton-Boddington road.

The road I'm standing on will eventually be diverted to run alongside the line towards Boddington before crossing over it and, if taking the route towards Priors Hardwick as I was, running back up the other side of the line before peeling off towards Priors. The two photos below show work on the bridge one week apart, the first with reinforcment sticking up and the second with shuttering in place ready for the concrete.

 

[Tobbes]

An update from the construction site at Wormleighton: I posted some photos of work here eighteen months ago, there will eventually be a deep four track (two running lines plus maintenance loops) cutting here. There is little sign on progress on the cutting itself (possibly some further north, the footpath giving better views is closed for the duration). More clearance has taken place, the width of the cleared corridor along the route is something which has attracted comment, and there have been some serious haul roads built of which this is an example. If it's like others in the area this will end up with road markings for two way running. There are more roadways over on the right where the cones are. The view is looking in the Birmingham direction from the Wormleighton-Boddington road.
View attachment 119549
The road I'm standing on will eventually be diverted to run alongside the line towards Boddington before crossing over it and, if taking the route towards Priors Hardwick as I was, running back up the other side of the line before peeling of towards Priors. The two photos below show work on the bridge one week apart, the first with reinforcment sticking up and the second with shuttering in place ready for the concrete.
View attachment 119548
View attachment 119550

Thanks for the pictures, that's great.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Has HS2 Ltd missed a significant milestone?
The start of tunnelling from West Ruislip eastwards has been posted for months to start in "August", but there has been no announcement and it is now September.
There's this item in the local advice for residents near the West Ruislip launch site, dated 23 August:

Preparing the Tunnel Boring Machine - HS2

What we are doing We wrote to you recently to inform you about works to build the Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) at our West Ruislip site. We will use the TBMS to build the railway tunnels between West Ruislip and Greenpark Way in Ealing. The TBMs have now been assembled. On Tuesday 30 or...

www.hs2.org.uk

The TBMs have now been assembled. On Tuesday 30 or Wednesday 31 August, one of them will be switched on and will cut up to one metre into the concrete wall ahead of it. This is preparatory work before we launch the TBMs. Once launched, they will run 24 hours a day until they reach Greenpark Way. We will let you know the launch date as soon as it is confirmed.

The wording of the update suggests to me (just guessing) that the TBMs are ready to go, but the complex supporting logistics are not.
The Northolt western tunnels are 8.5km long, and its TBMs will meet the Old Oak TBMs boring the 5.5km eastern tunnels coming the other way, at Greenford.

Further north, Florence, the first Chiltern TBM, appears to have reached the Chalfont St Giles vent shaft (the 2nd of 5) at 6.2km from the start.
But once again, there appears to be no announcement.
Cecilia, the second TBM, is close behind at 5.9km, and both are moving at around 20m/day.

 

[Mojo]

Given how poor HS2’s website is and how utterly disgracefully they treat local residents it wouldn’t surprise me if something has changed and they haven’t had the decency to follow through with their promise to communicate this, but I have asked a question to the engagement officer who is dealing with my numerous complaints against this organisation, whether they gave started or not.

 

[themiller]

The TBMs have now been assembled. On Tuesday 30 or Wednesday 31 August, one of them will be switched on and will cut up to one metre into the concrete wall ahead of it. This is preparatory work before we launch the TBMs. Once launched, they will run 24 hours a day until they reach Greenpark Way. We will let you know the launch date as soon as it is confirmed.

Is this pause after one metre to change the cutters for ones more suitable for the ground behind the concrete?

 

[Nottingham59]

cut up to one metre into the concrete wall ahead of it

That sounds to me like the length of one ring of tunnel lining.

I have no knowledge, but I imagine that you make the first cut to that depth to check that the cutting head works, and the spoil conveyor is OK, and the hydraulic rams are working to push the machine forward. So you check out most of the cutting process with no concrete ring segments in the machine which would have to be unloaded if anything needed fixing.

And then you pause while you bring up a load of segments and fill the feeding mechanism in the belly of the TBM and then insert the first ring lining to complete the first full cutting cycle, before doing it all over again.

 

[snowball]

That sounds to me like the length of one ring of tunnel lining.

I think tunnel lining rings are generally 2m.

 

[Mojo]

Given how poor HS2’s website is and how utterly disgracefully they treat local residents it wouldn’t surprise me if something has changed and they haven’t had the decency to follow through with their promise to communicate this, but I have asked a question to the engagement officer who is dealing with my numerous complaints against this organisation, whether they gave started or not.

I’ve been told that on Tuesday they did do the initial thing as previously advised.

 

[Nottingham59]

I think tunnel lining rings are generally 2m.

After a bit of digging, I see that you're right, of course. At least for the Chiltern tunnels which are the full 9.1m internal diameter:
"At two metres width per ring of seven segments"

HS2’s longest tunnels head north - Rail Engineer

Listen to this article In issue 190 we described HS2’s 3.37km Colne Valley Viaduct. Immediately to the north of this will be another of the project’s mammoth structures, the twin 16km long, 9.1 metre diameter Chiltern Tunnels, passing beneath Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles, Amersham and...

www.railengineer.co.uk

"The Chiltern tunnels are mainly composed of fibre reinforced universal rings comprising seven precast segments of a length of 2.0m and a thickness of 0.4m"

Design of Chiltern Tunnel and ventilation shaft interfaces - HS2 Learning Legacy

The aim of the paper is to present the sequence of works and design challenges encountered to justify the connections at all construction stages.

learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk

The Hillingdon and Euston tunnels will be smaller in diameter, and narrower ring width: "The Northolt East segments will be 340mm thick x 1.9m wide, while those for the Euston drives are smaller again at 325mm thick x 1.8m wide."

https://www.tunneltalk.com/UK-12Feb2021-HS2-prepares-for-underground-link-with-London-terminus.php

Maybe the pause after one metre is to just get through the concrete before they install the conveyor or slurry system to remove the earth in the tunnel itself?

 

[kevin_roche]

Maybe the pause after one metre is to just get through the concrete before they install the conveyor or slurry system to remove the earth in the tunnel itself?

I would guess the slurry system is unable to cope with concrete.

 

[hwl]

After a bit of digging, I see that you're right, of course. At least for the Chiltern tunnels which are the full 9.1m internal diameter:
"At two metres width per ring of seven segments"

HS2’s longest tunnels head north - Rail Engineer

Listen to this article In issue 190 we described HS2’s 3.37km Colne Valley Viaduct. Immediately to the north of this will be another of the project’s mammoth structures, the twin 16km long, 9.1 metre diameter Chiltern Tunnels, passing beneath Chalfont St Peter, Chalfont St Giles, Amersham and...

www.railengineer.co.uk

"The Chiltern tunnels are mainly composed of fibre reinforced universal rings comprising seven precast segments of a length of 2.0m and a thickness of 0.4m"

Design of Chiltern Tunnel and ventilation shaft interfaces - HS2 Learning Legacy

The aim of the paper is to present the sequence of works and design challenges encountered to justify the connections at all construction stages.

learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk

The Hillingdon and Euston tunnels will be smaller in diameter, and narrower ring width: "The Northolt East segments will be 340mm thick x 1.9m wide, while those for the Euston drives are smaller again at 325mm thick x 1.8m wide."

https://www.tunneltalk.com/UK-12Feb2021-HS2-prepares-for-underground-link-with-London-terminus.php

Maybe the pause after one metre is to just get through the concrete before they install the conveyor or slurry system to remove the earth in the tunnel itself?

The TBM initially pushes against a steel frame as there is no tunnel lining to push against but as the TBM starts significantly more than than the segment width behind the "wall" you need to stop take the pressure off the rams to add segments manually (in the open air) to act as spacers between the rams and steel frame.

There are some photos of this on the initial Chiltern TFB launch.

 

[Bald Rick]

After a bit of digging

unintentional pun of the week award!

 

[Rick1984]

Why do they build a concrete wall ?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Why do they build a concrete wall ?

To strengthen the ground around the portal area, and to give the TBMs something to bore through until it can be self-supporting.
There's a detailed paper, with many illustrations, on the complexities of launching these TBMs on the HS2 site:
https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/d...-tunnel-west-tbms-at-west-ruislip-hs2-lot-s2/

This paper describes the structural and geotechnical works designed for the West Ruislip area, where two TBMs will start the bore of the HS2 Northolt Tunnel West (NTW). These works include extensive piling, civils, ground treatment and soil works. The innovative method described in this paper and its implementation in the HS2 Project promote confidence in economic and environmentally sustainable technical solutions with a minimum carbon footprint.

 

[Rick1984]

Thanks

 

[Nottingham59]

There's a detailed paper, with many illustrations, on the complexities of launching these TBMs

Thanks for that. Really interesting. I see that figures 3 and 4 imply they will pause the TBM after 5 metres of cutting, for inspection of the cutting head "as is recommended for good practice". Can we assume that when the press release states a one metre pause, then that is a mis-print?

 

[Geezertronic]

The A452 up by Interchange has now closed in the Chelmsley Wood direction (other direction on the Melbicks side still open) with work to re-route and rebuild the road around the new island that they are creating there continuing. It's causing a bit of a traffic nightmare around peak times as traffic is diverted via the A446 to the M6 J4 island, and especially down Coleshill Heath Road where traffic can re-join the A452 although that area became a lot worse when they implemented the so called "traffic improvements" on the Chester Road by Chelmund's Cross

 

[Jimbo]

Does anyone know how many of the 56 piers on the Colne Valley viaduct have been completed? Plus, how they’re getting on with installing the viaduct segments please?

 

[Bald Rick]

Does anyone know how many of the 56 piers on the Colne Valley viaduct have been completed? Plus, how they’re getting on with installing the viaduct segments please?

the viaduct was just about up to the A412 at The end of August. I don’t know about the piers

 

[Dave_Cardboard]

Does anyone know how many of the 56 piers on the Colne Valley viaduct have been completed? Plus, how they’re getting on with installing the viaduct segments please?

There's a thread on SkyScraperCity that has some pics of the span over the A412 more or half way completed as at 11-Sept-2022. I don't know about the piers either - I live fairly close by, but it's ages since I've been up there.

HS2 | Phase 1 | London to Birmingham | 140mi/225km | U/C

www.skyscrapercity.com

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

HS2 Ltd continues its erratic updates of TBM positions, today's being for September 8.
Florence (6209m) has hardly moved since August 31 (11m), so is presumably at the Chalfont St Giles vent shaft.
Cecilia (6134m) has therefore caught up and is only 75m behind Florence.
Still no news of the Northolt TBM startup. I'm not aware they have been named yet, usually the first sign of action.

In your area map - HS2

Search our interactive In Your Area Map to find information about current or planned HS2 construction works taking place across the route.

www.hs2.org.uk

 

[Bald Rick]

There's a thread on SkyScraperCity that has some pics of the span over the A412 more or half way completed as at 11-Sept-2022. I don't know about the piers either - I live fairly close by, but it's ages since I've been up there.

HS2 | Phase 1 | London to Birmingham | 140mi/225km | U/C

www.skyscrapercity.com

Thats essentially a whole span further forward than when I went through 2 weeks earlier. Good progress.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Modern Railways Newsletter this week has item about the extensive alterations that are going to be required at Old Oak Common to integrate the station into the existing network which was revealed in a response to Grand Central Trains request for paths Paddington to Wales

‘Between 2023 and the end of 2028, work will significantly ramp up with access to Paddington via the GWML expected to be unavailable for extended periods’ said the DfT in its response to a consultation on Grand Union Trains’ proposed services between London and Carmarthen.

‘The extent to which the new station will impact the whole of the Western timetable is currently under discussion, and a significant recast is anticipated. Timetable options are currently being worked on by Network Rail, and this work is being discussed at industry groups.’ The DfT expects the available capacity during the construction phase will be insufficient for the number of services operators will want to run.

https://www.modernrailways.com/article/five-years-disruption-old-oak-common

Maybe merits a separate thread in due course when the changes start impacting the classic network.