Wendover Dean Viaduct

Last updated

Wendover Dean Viaduct
Coordinates 51°44′14″N0°43′22″W / 51.7371°N 0.7228°W / 51.7371; -0.7228
OS grid reference SP882050
Carries High Speed 2
Locale Wendover
Characteristics
Total length450 m (1,480 ft) [1]
Width14 m (46 ft)
Height18 m (59 ft)
No. of spans10
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks 2
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrified 25 kV 50 Hz AC
History
ArchitectMoxon Architects
DesignerASC (Arcadis, Setec and COWI)
Constructed byEKFB (Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial, BAM Nuttall)
Location
Wendover Dean Viaduct

The Wendover Dean Viaduct is a railway viaduct currently under construction that will carry the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line across farmland between Wendover and Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England.

Contents

Approval for the viaduct's construction was issued in 2017 via the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017; its design was publicly revealed two years later. In June 2021, Buckinghamshire Council also approved plans for the viaduct. Design revisions centred around improving its aesthetics and minimising its impact on the countryside. Construction is set to take place between late 2021 and 2024, although high speed trains will not traverse the structure until several years after this point.

History

Authorisation to construct the Wendover Dean Viaduct was granted, along with the rest of the first phase of HS2, by the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017. [2] The near-finalised designs of both the Wendover Dean Viaduct and the neighbouring Small Dean Viaduct was revealed to the public on 1 November 2019. It was produced by the ASC joint venture between Arcadis, Setec, COWI, and Moxon Architects. [3] [4]

The contractor appointed to construct the viaduct is the EKFB consortium, comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial and BAM Nuttall; the viaduct is to be one of the most substantial individual civil engineering works along the 80 km (50 miles) section between the Chiltern tunnel and Long Itchington Wood that EKFB is to build. [4] In late 2019, it was stated that its construction was set to commence during 2021, and the viaduct's completion was scheduled to occur during 2024. [3]

On 10 June 2021, Buckinghamshire Council issued its formal approval of the submitted plans for the viaduct, despite its official position of opposing HS2 in general; Councillor Peter Martin, Buckinghamshire Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for HS2 observed that planning permission had already been granted irrespectively under the High Speed Rail act in 2017. [5] Prior to its approval, the council held talks with HS2 Ltd, during which the latter gave assurances related to the noise levels that will be produced by the operational viaduct, along with numerous refinements to the design to minimise its impact upon the local community. [5]

Design

The viaduct is to be built to the east of the A413 road, between the settlements of Wendover and Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. Possessing an approximate length of 450 m (1,480 ft), it will cross above Durham Farm, a portion of Bowood Lane (which is to be partially realigned) and a private access road to Upper Wendover Dean Farm. The structure has a total of ten spans, [1] which carry a deck consisting of two separate layers of reinforced concrete along with a pair of steel girders. This double composite design has been claimed by the architect firm to be the first use of such an approach in Britain, although such techniques have been used before for France's TGV high speed network. [4] [6] [7] A total of 1,400 tonnes of weathering steel will be used, featuring an intentionally dark russet finish for a pleasing visual effect, reportedly making the structure appear to be thinner. [8] The beams will be manufactured and installed by Eiffage Métal. [9]

The structure has been designed with a highly sleek design, reducing weight, material, and cost alike wherever reasonable to do so. The design team also sought this sleek approach for its visual properties, aiming to minimise its obtrusiveness upon the neighbouring countryside. [4] Following discussions with Buckinghamshire Council during the planning stages, several minor revisions to enhance the viaduct's aesthetic qualities, amongst other attributes, were made. These include the adoption of a textured exterior for neighbouring barriers. [5] The viaduct's supports were one area of particular refinement, changes were made with the purpose of minimising its long term land usage as well as hedgerow loss. [5] These supporting piers will vary in height across the length of the structure, the tallest of which will be 14 m (46 ft). [4] The piers will be pre-cast offsite in sections before being transported to their final locations via road vehicles. [4]

Construction

Foundation laying work started in July 2022. [9]

Following creation of the viaduct concrete piers, the deck was assembled and slid out over the piers in three stages to cover the overall 450m length:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amersham</span> Market town and civil parish in England

Amersham is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, 27 miles (43 km) northwest of central London, 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Aylesbury and 9 miles (14 km) north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke Mandeville</span> Human settlement in England

Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil parish, the village falls within the Aylesbury Urban Area. According to the Census Report the area of this parish is 1,460 acres (5.9 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiltern Hills</span> Range of hills in Southeast England

The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, northwest of London, covering 660 square miles (1,700 km2) across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire, stretching 45 miles (72 km) from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast. The hills are 12 miles (19 km) at their widest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendover</span> Town in Buckinghamshire, England

Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along the foot of the Chilterns. The town is 35 miles (56 km) north west of London and 5 miles (8 km) south east of Aylesbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millau Viaduct</span> Cable-stayed bridge in Occitanie, France

The Millau Viaduct is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the gorge valley of the Tarn near Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitanie Region, in Southern France. The design team was led by engineer Michel Virlogeux and English architect Norman Foster. As of October 2023, it is the tallest bridge in the world, having a structural height of 336.4 metres (1,104 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim's Ditch (Chilterns)</span> Series of linear earthwork in the Chilterns

Grim's Ditch is a series of linear earthwork in the Chilterns. A complete outline cannot be identified but separate sections exist over a 30-kilometre (19 mi) span between Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and as far as Pitstone and Ivinghoe Buckinghamshire. Pottery shards have been unearthed in excavations during the 1970s and 1980s suggesting that its origin may have been during the Iron Age and was believed to have been during a period when the landscape was clearer of scrub and the dense woodland than today as the straighter sections would have required clear lines of sight. The first mention of Grim's Ditch was a grant of 1170–90 in the Missenden Cartulary referring to it as Grimesdic. The Anglo Saxons commonly named features of unexplained or mysterious origin Grim. The word derives from the Norse word grimr meaning devil and a nickname for Odin or Wodin the God of War and Magic. Another mention is to be found in a 10th-century Anglo Saxon boundary charter for the Mongewell area.

Wendover is a town in Buckinghamshire, England.

Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. As of 2010 it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Speed 2</span> British high-speed rail project

High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which is under construction in England. The line will run between Handsacre, in southern Staffordshire, and London, with a spur to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain's second purpose-built high-speed railway after High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. London and Birmingham will be served directly by new high speed track, and services to Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester will use a mix of new high speed track and the existing West Coast Main Line. The majority of the project is planned to be completed by 2033.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Curzon Street railway station</span> Planned HS2 station in Birmingham, UK

Birmingham Curzon Street railway station is the planned northern terminus of High Speed 2 on the fringe of Birmingham city centre, England. The new railway will connect Birmingham to London Euston via Birmingham Interchange and Old Oak Common. Curzon Street will have seven terminal platforms and is planned to open in 2026.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colne Valley Regional Park</span>

The Colne Valley Regional Park is 43 square miles (110 km2) of parks, green spaces and reservoirs alongside the often multi-channel River Colne and parallel Grand Union Canal, mainly in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with parts in the London Borough of Hillingdon, Berkshire and a small area in Surrey.

Farthings Wood is an ancient replanted woodland near Little Missenden in the English county of Buckinghamshire. The predominant tree species in the wood is Corsican pine, interspersed with beech, wild cherry, rowan, ash, silver birch, downy birch and sycamore. There are also Scots pine trees in the southern section of the wood, and hornbeam, oak and hawthorn around the boundaries of the wood. The shrub layer consists of a number of different species. The wood is home to two species of bats, namely the Common Pipistrelle and the Soprano Pipistrelle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of High Speed 2</span>

The history of High Speed 2 is the background to the planned construction of High Speed 2 (HS2), a new high-speed railway in Great Britain that was originally planned to connect London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and other cities in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop HS2</span> Campaign against HS2 in UK

Stop HS2 is a campaign group which opposes the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project in England. The group was set up in 2010 under the slogan "No business case. No environmental case. No money to pay for it." The following year it organised a conference and it has since challenged MPs, criticised HS2 plans and organised protests. In 2020, the group commented on the Oakervee report and supports illegal camps impeding construction in the Colne Valley Regional Park, Kenilworth and Wendover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colne Valley Viaduct</span> HS2 Railway Bridge in Harefield

The Colne Valley Viaduct is a bridge, under construction as of 2024, which will carry the High Speed 2 railway over the Colne Valley Regional Park and the Grand Union Canal, in Hillingdon, west London. When completed, its length of 3.4 kilometres (2.1 mi) and a weight of 116,000 tonnes will make it the largest railway bridge in the UK. It is one of the largest single civil engineering works of HS2 Phase 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jones' Hill Wood</span> Ancient woodland in Buckinghamshire, UK

Jones' Hill Wood is a 1.8-hectare (4.4-acre) piece of ancient woodland near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, south England. Formed mainly of beech trees, the wood is part of the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Almost half of the wood is planned to be chopped down to make way for the route of High Speed 2 (HS2) and the topsoil will be translocated. In October 2020, a protest camp was evicted.

The Chiltern Tunnel is a high-speed railway tunnel currently under construction in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, England, and will upon completion carry the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line under the Chiltern Hills. The twin-bore tunnels, which are 16.04 km long, will be the longest on the HS2 line. Each tunnel will also have additional 220 m (720 ft) entry and 135 m (443 ft) exit perforated concrete portals to reduce sudden changes in air pressure and subsequent noise.

The HS2 automated people mover is a planned automated people mover (APM) in Solihull, England being built in conjunction with the High Speed 2 project in order to improve connections between HS2's upcoming Interchange station, Birmingham Airport, and other rail and community infrastructure.

The Thame Valley Viaduct is a viaduct which will carry the High Speed 2 railway line in the United Kingdom. It traverses the River Thame near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Balsall Common Viaduct is a railway viaduct under construction in Balsall Common that will carry the High Speed 2 railway line.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wendover Dean and Small Dean Viaducts and Green Tunnel South Portal Engagement Event" (PDF). High Speed 2. September 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  2. Burnett, Tom (10 June 2021). "HS2 - Wendover Dean Viaduct is approved but Bucks Council remains 'fundamentally opposed'". BuckinghamshireLive. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 Waite, Richard (1 November 2019). "AJ exclusive: Moxon reveals designs for 'sibling' HS2 viaducts". Architects' Journal. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Innovative design for Chilterns viaduct". The Construction Index. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Game not over for Wendover Dean Viaduct". Buckinghamshire Council. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  6. Pitcher, Greg (13 November 2020). "Future of Bridges: HS2's French inspiration for Chilterns viaducts". newcivilengineer.com.
  7. "Package 2 Wendover Dean - Wendover Dean Viaduct and Associated Earthworks" (PDF). Aylesbury Vale DC - Planning Permission.
  8. Morby, Aaron (20 July 2021). "New HS2 viaduct design to halve carbon emissions". constructionenquirer.com.
  9. 1 2 "Wendover Dean Viaduct". High Speed 2. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  10. "HS2 begins epic year-long, half-kilometre viaduct deck slide". High Speed 2. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. "HS2 completes 3,130 tonne second Wendover Dean Viaduct deck slide". High Speed 2. 10 May 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  12. "New Timelapse: HS2 completes epic 8 month Wendover Dean Viaduct deck slide". High Speed 2. 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.