Sitting at 3.4km in length, the Colne Valley Viaduct is set to become the longest railway bridge in the UK, as work officially begins on the construction. The bridge will cover over two miles across a series of lakes and waterways between Hillingdon and the M25.
Align JV are leading the viaduct construction – made up of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick. The bridge itself will be hoisted onto the concrete deck segments, which form the viaducts arches, using a machine known as a launching girder, a 160m long, one of a kind machine in the UK.
Originally built in 2004, the launching girder was first used during the construction of the Hong Kong East Tsing Yi Viaduct. Specially designed to handle complex viaduct construction, the machine is named ‘Dominique’ in memory of Bouygues engineer Dominique Droniou who played a leading role in its design and development.
A total of one thousand deck segments will be needed, with each one weighing up to 140 tonnes. To allow for the gentle curves of the viaduct as it crosses the valley, all the segments are slightly different shapes and made on site at a purpose-built temporary factory close to the north abutment.