Over one million cubic metres of concrete has been used thus far to build HS2 structures across the West Midlands.

This amounts for just over 50% of the 1.9 million cubic metres that is required to complete works on the 90km stretch as the railway network of viaducts and bridges continues to take shape.

HS2's civils contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) has three concrete suppliers, keeping their order books full for the foreseeable future, and supporting over 250 jobs.

Aggregate Industries, Tarmac and Cemex have batched and delivered the one million cubic metres of concrete, with the milestone achieved on the Chattle Hill structure at the Delta Junction in North Warwickshire.

There are eleven local batching plants supplying the concrete, five of which are on HS2 sites.

The entire concrete programme in the West Midlands is managed by a dedicated BBV team at HS2's Kingsbury site near Lea Marston.

Jon Knights, Materials and Durability Lead at HS2, said: "The operation to manage the materials needed to build HS2's structures is hugely complex, so this milestone is a great achievement for the whole team.  

-- Advertisement --

"With more than half the concrete poured for structures in the West Midlands, we're well on the way to completing the viaducts and bridges that will carry the country’s new high-speed railway through the region."

The concrete is made from low carbon content as part of BBV's strategy to reduce carbon in construction

Chris Jones, Senior Construction Manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI Joint Venture said: "Carbon reduction is a big part of our materials strategy and we've worked closely with our supply chain to minimise the total cementitious contents in order to cut carbon and cost."

Aggregate Industries are supplying concrete for the Delta Junction structures, where the scale of HS2’s construction programme is now clearly visible.

A network of 13 viaducts is being built over the complex network of motorways, railway lines and rivers in the North Warwickshire area.

The Chattle Hill structure - where the milestone of one million cubic metres of concrete used was achieved - will carry four HS2 tracks over the A446 Lichfield Road on the mainline of the railway between London and Handsacre.

The structure is 165m long, 8.3m high and 23m wide. Over 4,100 cubic metres out of a total of around 10,200 cubic metres of concrete have been used for the structure to date.

The A446 diversion to take the road under the new Chattle Hill structure was completed at the end of October 2024, with the second phase of construction set to start.

This includes the central reservation piers, northern abutments and decks that will span over the A446.

Tarmac is supplying to the southern end of the route through Warwickshire, along with Washwood Heath and the Curzon approaches viaducts in Birmingham.

Cemex are also providing material in Birmingham, as well as for structures being built in Staffordshire.