Bridge progress at West Midlands HS2 interchange station

HS2 has released images of workers lifting fifteen huge bridge girders at its Solihull interchange station in the West Midlands.

The team of twenty people used a 650 tonne crane to hoist the concrete beams, which weigh a total of 565 tonnes, and place them in place on the existing abutments and pillars.

The girders form the “building blocks” of a 63.5 meter bridge which will carry a two-lane road bringing cars and other vehicles over the high-speed railway and to the station car parks.

The next phase of bridge construction will involve placing a concrete deck on top of the girders, followed by the installation of parapets and cladding works.

Work on the bridge is expected to be completed early next year.

The bridge is the most significant structure built so far as part of the new station development, which will span a 150 hectare site in a triangle of land between the M42, A45 and A452.

The new station will serve passengers making the 38-minute HS2 journey to London, as well as those traveling to destinations in the north.

HS2 hopes the Interchange station will be a “catalyst for huge growth in Solihull, driving economic transformation in the region”.

The Urban Growth Company is leading the plans, which will support thirty thousand jobs, up to three thousand new homes and seventy thousand square meters of commercial space.

The station will provide passengers with easy access to the neighboring National Exhibition Centre, the redeveloped Birmingham International Station and Birmingham Airport via an elevated mass transit system known as the Automated People Mover (APM).

HS2 awarded the contract to build the interchange station to Laing O’Rourke last year, and design work has begun.

HS2’s main civil engineering contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), is preparing the site and carrying out preliminary civil works, so that full construction work can start in early 2026.

This bridge is one of more than five hundred bridge structures under construction along the HS2 route, ranging from small footbridges to large viaducts.

“We are very proud to mark this technical milestone and I would like to thank everyone involved for carrying out the operation safely and precisely in particularly difficult weather conditions.

“As we approach a new phase of construction, we are excited to bring our plans for the interchange station to life. The interchange will be transformative for the Midlands, creating new jobs and supply chain opportunities, and becoming one of the UK’s best-connected transport hubs.

Ailsa Waygood, HS2 Ltd project client for the interchange station