HS2 presses on with Northants ‘green tunnel’
Construction on the next phase of a one-and-a-half-mile rail tunnel in West Northamptonshire is now under way, after work to clear the route was completed this week.
HS2 bosses say a realignment of the B4525 road, which crosses the tunnel’s planned path, has now been completed – allowing site-workers to crack on with the next section of the Greatworth cutting.
And the company building Britain’s high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham say lessons learned have helped engineers to double the pace of construction on the route’s longest “green” tunnel, around six miles from Banbury.
The so-called green tunnels involve burying sections of the line using a “cut and cover” technique designed to reduce their impact on the landscape.
HS2 says between five and six sections of tunnel per day are now being installed at Greatworth. Credit: HS2 Ltd
Around six sections of tunnel are now being installed per day using lessons applied from a similar section at Chipping Warden, where a series of improvements to the construction process were developed on a test bed, which allowed engineers to experiment with new approaches.
The entire HS2 project is currently in the middle of a programme reset designed to put key elements of the scheme back into sequence, following a costly series of overruns.
Earlier this month, chief executive Mark Wild revealed that work on large sections of the route had been paused while workers concentrated on a key section of test track between Birmingham and Wendover Green in a bid to get the scheme back on track.
The reset was ordered on the back of a government report released in July, which confirmed that there was no way of meeting the line’s original opening deadline of 2033.
“I’m really pleased to see the temporary realignment of the B4525 open to drivers. This major milestone means that we can keep local traffic moving while we deliver the next stage of the Greatworth green tunnel,” said HS2 project manager, Sam Arrowsmith.
“Once complete, the tunnel will help protect the rural landscape and reduce disruption for people living nearby. We’ve still got a long way to go, but the lessons from Chipping Warden have helped us significantly increased productivity and I’d like to thank everyone who’s worked so hard to get us to this point.”
