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06:45.

It’s early but I’m on the rails again. This time heading to Aylesbury from Central London in order to (hopefully) record the first beams of the deck of the new HS2 viaduct being lifted into place. I’ll blog throughout the day when I can. For now, I’ll let this picture do the talking!

08:05.

The job’s been pushed back a couple of hours so I’ve had time to take a trip out to Princes Risborough and back on the first day of the line reopening after the recent blockade.

17:00.

S’cuse the huge gap here, but that’s due to being very busy and also being knackered. Today’s been another fascinating day learning about and seeing modern construction techniques that are making HS2 such a green railway. Forget the absolute dross you hear from ani HS2 protesters, Nimbys and a former BBC Environment Correspondent who’re still chucking out a decade and more old table top calculation, this is the real world and real construction where the UKs’ importing skills from abroad and people who’ve been doing this for years. The old methods went out of the window years ago.

The site I’ve been visiting is that of the Thame viaduct. It’s nowhere near as grand as the iconic Colne Valley viaduct as it’s low-lying (3.3 meters high) and only 880 meters long as its designed to cross a floodplain – and today was an ideal time to see that floodplain in action! The reason for today’s visit was that the girders that form the deck of the bridge have started to be lifted into place and a few of us were invited along to watch the operation.

I’m currently heading back to Yorkshire from Kings Cross after returning to London, so I’ll be adding a few pictures shortly. Bear with me!

17:30.

Here’s some pics from the day.

The cranes are prepped, ready to lift the 4th girder into place.

The lorry arrives with the girder. This is a fine example of how HS2 is spreading wealth around the UK. The crane on the left is on hire from a company in Inverness, Scotland. The HGV bringing the girder in us from a company in Richmond, North Yorkshire, whilst the company manufacturing the girders and pillars is based on the Isle of Grain. Kent.

Two girders which have already been installed sitting on their prefabricated piers.
The girder is slowly, gently swung into place before being lowered onto the bearings.
Gently does it. The girder inches down onto the bearings and a jack which will be used for the final (vertical) alignment.
Here’s what you don’t see. This is the piling for pier 18, inside the coffer dam constructed to keep the flood plain water at bay. Each of these piles is 45 meters deep.
A prefabricated pier that’s already been assembled, waiting for the girders to arrive. The flooded fields in the background give away why this bridge is needed, even though it’s only 3.3 meters in height it’s 880m length bridges the area.

18:30.

We’ve just left Doncaster and I’m looking forward to getting home. It’s been a long day…

20:20.

Right, I’m home and uploading a few camera pictures of the Thame valley viaduct for your delectation. When I have time I’ll add some more technical details. But for now, this is me signing off!

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