An aerial view of the HS2 route across the future Colne Valley Viaduct, with construction beginning at the end of the embankment on the right and running across to the left.
PHIL MARSH
DECK segments for what will become the UK’s longest railway bridge are being lifted into place by a 700-tonne launching girder.
The machine began work at the end of May on the Colne Valley Viaduct, which will carry the HS2 route for more than two miles – across lakes, the River Colne and the Grand Union Canal – between Hillingdon in West London and the M25.
The 160metre-long (525 feet) launching girder, which was made in 2004 for use in the construction of Hong Kong’s East Tsing Yi Viaduct, is the only one of its kind in the UK. It will move from one pier to the next, lifting the deck segments into place, one each side of the pier, to balance the structure and create two half-arches simultaneously.