HS2 FACTS

  • Over 250 miles of new high-speed line is planned across the UK
  • HS2 trains will stop at more than 25 stations
  • The network will connect 30 million people

The High Speed Two (HS2) railway is a mammoth infrastructure project designed to deliver faster travel times to towns and cities up and down the UK – from the south-east to the north-west.

One of its most complex sections is the Delta Junction, where the new railway splits, curving west towards Birmingham and north towards Crewe. It includes a network of nine viaducts constructed from getting on for 3,000 precast concrete segments, to be made at a manufacturing yard in Warwickshire that belongs to HS2’s infrastructure partner Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV).

Requiring a large gantry crane with a hydraulic spreader to work under the hook, BBV turned to BVS Cranes to supply both, awarding the contract in late 2021.

The crane – which spans 54m, is 15m high, has a capacity of 87.5 tons, operates on a runway length of 530m and is equipped with an 8.0-ton auxiliary hoist – has been designed to lift the concrete segments during the manufacturing and transportation phases.

During its two years in operation it will lift every segment, with each one weighing up 80 tons. Each segment will be moved a minimum of two times, meaning a total of up to 6,000 successful operations is targeted.

To facilitate installation at the site, the crane was designed without welding, and was constructed using only bolts and nuts.

Meanwhile, the hydraulic spreader has a safe working load (SWL) of 82 tons and is designed to grab, position and stack concrete segments of different shapes.

Like the gantry crane, it is engineered, manufactured and fully tested by BVS. BVS has supplied cranes for similar concrete operations before, notably for a Bechtel and Enka joint venture on a Serbian highways construction, as well for other projects in Sweden, the Netherlands and Lithuania. The Turkish company has also been involved in other infrastructure projects, such as France’s Reunion Island coastal road. The HS2 crane is its largest UK product to date.

Önder Topuz, BVS business development, marketing and brand manager, says the firm was pleased the customer puts its trust in “BVS Cranes to make this”. He adds it is a project BVS is very proud of completing.

BBV, meanwhile, expects on-site assembly of the segments for the Delta Junction viaducts to start in the summer of 2023.

HS2 itself will begin running between 2029 and 2033 when Phase One is complete. Services will expand as new sections of the network are built.