HS2 submits amended plans for Curzon Street viaduct

Final designs for a 950ft-long viaduct which will carry high speed services into Birmingham have been submitted to the city council.

HS2 submitted its revised plans for the Curzon No.1 bridge, which spans the River Rea on its way into the city centre, this week.

The structure will form part of a system of five viaducts carrying high-speed trains into Curzon Street, stretching more than 1.5 kilometers through east Birmingham. Curzon No.1 will connect the Duddeston Junction viaduct with the landmark Curzon No.2 bridge as it passes out of Duddeston and towards the city centre.

Original plans for the viaduct were approved in August 2023, with piling and early pier construction under way since. But detailed design work has continued and HS2 says there are now a number of differences between the final detailed design and the scheme approved three years ago.

A plan of the five viaducts which will carry HS2 through East Birmingham. Credit: HS2

The latest design maintains a steel composite deck, built in 40m sections on concrete piers, but has longer spans and a deeper deck by 4.4m compared to the original plan.

HS2 says the change are necessary to accommodate the “engineering requirements of the overall HS2 scheme, according to documents filed with Birmingham City Council this week.

“The changes have been made in response to engineering requirements, cost, the need for visual continuity with adjacent structures and to incorporate [Common Design Elements]” said a supporting statement issued with the application.

“The Curzon No.1 Viaduct has been through an extensive design development process to ensure a carefully considered design, through the use of weathering steel girders and CDE concrete parapets and piers producing a design that visually ties into the proposed surrounding HS2 to preserves the local environment and local amenity while meeting engineering and operational requirements.”

Other largely technical refinements include changes to a flood attenuation basin designed to hold rainwater collected from the structure, as well as the design and size of the pier which will support the railway line.

Additional security fencing set to form a “High Containment Safety Barrier” will also be added to the scheme.

Plans and documents relating to the application can be found on Birmingham’s planning portal under reference: 2026/03462/PA