A team of 250 people have worked around the clock to move a huge 5,600 tonne bridge into place under the Coventry to Leamington Spa railway in Warwickshire. The operation to slide the 22 metres long and 11 metres wide bridge into position took 5.5 hours and was completed 27 hours ahead of schedule.

From the start of blockade on Saturday 29 July, 113 metres of the existing rail track and 188 rail sleepers were removed by the team, then 15,000 cubic metres of ground including hard sandstone material was excavated to create the space for the bridge to be moved into.

It was moved into place using five 3.8 tonne jacks on a sliding surface, designed by specialist civil and structural engineering company Freyssinet, which allowed the bridge to be jacked on a guiding raft slab over a distance of 47 metres.

It moved at around 9 meters per hour and took 5.5 hours to be moved into its final position at 03.30 on Monday 31 July. This innovative construction method allows the bridge to be moved in one movement, which dramatically reduces disruption for rail passengers.

The structure will allow the high speed railway to pass underneath the existing Coventry to Leamington Spa line. In the short term it will also allow construction traffic to pass under this line, reducing the number of lorries on the public highways.

This is the third major bridge move undertaken by HS2 in the last two weeks, as construction ramps up on all the structures, including bridges and viaducts, where HS2 will intersect with existing railway lines and roads in the West Midlands.

On 17 July, a 6,200 tonne bridge was moved into place by an 800-wheeled transporter at Fulfen Wood near Lichfield under the existing West Coast Main Line.

On Friday 28 July, the Streethay bridge was driven into place under the South Staffordshire freight railway on the same self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) that were used for the Fulfen Wood drive, but with 344 wheels for the lighter 2,600 tonnes structure.

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0:00 Coventry to Leamington Spa railway bridge move
0:36 Streethay bridge move
0:56 Fulfen Wood bridge move
1:13 Why did the moves take place?
1:46 Close

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