HS2 has released new images of the first completed sections of the landmark viaduct that will bring high speed trains to the new Curzon Street station in Birmingham.
The completed sections mark the next step on the programme to build a series of viaducts to carry the railway through Birmingham’s industrial heartland and into the city centre.
High speed trains will travel out of the west portal of the 3.5-mile Bromford Tunnel before crossing five viaducts – Duddeston, Curzon 1, Curzon 2, Lawley Middleway and Curzon 3 – on their way into Curzon Street station.
The completed sections of the Curzon 3 viaduct are six metres high and span 65 metres across four separate decks at their widest point.
Stephen Powell, HS2’s Head of Delivery said: “It’s fantastic to see the first sections of this viaduct revealed, giving a clear view of how HS2 trains will approach Birmingham city centre.
“Now visible, you can see how the separate deck sections maximise daylight underneath, and the V-shaped piers take up less room at ground level, providing opportunities for a usable public space that will add to the life of the city.”
Balfour Beatty VINCI is HS2’s Midlands contactor, with a team of more than 200 people building the viaducts.
The concrete pour for the first Curzon 3 viaducts started in November 2023, and since then the site team have completed all the deck work, attached the parapets and removed the shuttering and scaffolding to reveal the finished Curzon 3 deck concrete sections.
3,700 cubic metres of concrete have been poured to make the four individual sections of the Curzon 3 viaduct, which will connect to the future station platforms. 88 concrete parapets have so far been installed, exactly half of the 176 needed for the entire structure.
Georgios Markakis, Section Manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI said: “We’re entering a really exciting phase of the project now, as this iconic viaduct in the centre of Birmingham begins to take shape. These images revealed by HS2 demonstrate the enormous progress we’re making at our Curzon Street site.
“Using this momentum, we’re currently installing four parapets each day, while following the same process to complete the remaining deck spans, which we expect to finish in 2026.”
Further sections of the Curzon 3 viaduct will be built in the same way, and construction will begin later this year on the section over Digbeth Canal.
The large arched span over Lawley Middleway is made from weathering steel girders and is being built on-site. It will be moved into place over the road during a series of short night-time road closures over the summer.
Image credit: HS2
