By HS2 has reached another major construction milestone with the structural completion of the 700m-long Burton Green tunnel in Warwickshire, after engineers installed the final roof segment on the cut-and-cover structure.
The 16m-wide twin-box tunnel, located beneath the village of Burton Green near Kenilworth, will carry high-speed services on the London to West Midlands section of the railway. An internal dividing wall separates northbound trains heading towards Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland from southbound services to Old Oak Common and Euston.
The milestone marks the completion of the tunnel’s primary civil engineering works and allows construction teams to move into the next phase of the project, including the installation of a 500m-long landscaped green roof designed to integrate the structure into the surrounding countryside.
Doug Barnett, Senior Project Manager at HS2 Ltd, said the achievement reflected the work of the 150-strong construction team and would now allow the project to focus on delivering the landscaped public space above the tunnel.
The tunnel has been designed to reconnect Burton Green by reinstating the Kenilworth Greenway close to its original alignment. Once complete, the route will run across the tunnel, providing a link between Balsall Common and Kenilworth for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
According to the Mott MacDonald/SYSTRA Design Joint Venture, the tunnel was designed to fit within the constrained corridor through the village while restoring ecological connectivity and the character of the former Greenway.
Excavated material from the project is being reused in surrounding landscaping works, with extensive native tree and shrub planting planned to create new wildlife habitats and reconnect nearby woodland areas, including Black Waste Wood and Little Poors Wood.
The tunnel is being delivered by Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), with Galldris Group acting as the principal civil engineering subcontractor. Galldris employed a direct workforce of more than 100 people on the project and was responsible for constructing the tunnel and its associated retaining structures.
BBV is now completing the remaining works, including the installation of the southern escape walkway and application of passive fire protection to the tunnel lining. Cromwell Lane, which was temporarily diverted during construction to maintain access through Burton Green, is scheduled to reopen on its original alignment in October following the completion of utility works.
Burton Green is one of five green tunnels being constructed on HS2, alongside Copthall in west London, Wendover in Buckinghamshire, and Chipping Warden and Greatworth in Northamptonshire. Unlike deep bored tunnels, the shallow cut-and-cover structures will be covered with soil, trees and vegetation to minimize their visual impact and help restore the surrounding landscape.
The milestone comes as construction activity continues to accelerate across the HS2 route, with recent achievements including the launch of Europe’s largest road tunnel boring machine for the Lower Thames Crossing, completion of piling at Curzon Street Station and the successful slide-in of HS2’s tallest viaduct structure in Birmingham.
