AFTER almost two years of work, the last of the 292 concrete piles that will form the foundations of HS2’s Colne Valley Viaduct were installed during the final week of January.
With a length of 3.4 kilometres (2.1 miles), the structure will be the UK’s longest railway bridge – 100 metres (328 feet) longer than the Tay Bridge. It will carry the high-speed route across a series of lakes and waterways near Hillingdon on the northwestern edge of London. Construction teams have been working from the north and south ends of the viaduct to complete the foundations and 56 piers. Assembly of the deck, which will consist of 1000 precast concrete segments fabricated on-site, began last year and more than 500 metres of the viaduct structure has so far been completed.