By Lynda Myer
Being located at 20m beneath the ground, first concrete pour in the west box at Old Oak Common Station is completed by HS2.
This 850m station box is next to the six platforms for HS2 trains. Following that the station contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra joint venture (BBVS JV) dug about 80,000m3 of spoil in the west box, the first base slab concrete pour was done.
In order to preparing it for tunnel work between Old Oak Common and Victoria Road Crossover Box, it will be handed over to HS2’s London Tunnels contractor once the west box is completed. Also the breakthrough is expected late next year.
The transporting process of the spoil from the excavation to HS2’s London Logistics Hub at Willesden Euroterminal is implementing via a conveyor system, removing the need for lorry movements on local roads, whereas it started operation in November 2022. From the Logistics Hub the spoil is taken by rail for reuse in Kent, Cambridgeshire and Rugby.
Old Oak Common Station will have 14 new platforms: six HS2 platforms for high-speed trains to the Midlands, four Elizabeth Line platforms, and four platforms for the Great Western Mainline, which is due to be served by trains to Wales and the south-west.
According to BBVS JV project director Nigel Russell: “Completion of the first concrete base pour for the station box was a significant milestone for the HS2 project. We now look forward to excavating the eastern section of the station box at Old Oak Common, which on completion, will become one of Britain’s largest, best connected and most sustainable railway stations.”
June 2021 was the date of commencing permanent works for the station box by BBVS JV, with the first D-Wall and piling taking place on the site. The work was completed in March this year, after BBVS’s contractor, SB3, installed the last of 275 D-Wall panels and 161 bearing piles, completing the 1.8km-long wall.
The determined time for starting construction of platforms for the ground level platforms, to be used by the Elizabeth Line and Great Western Mainline services, will be later this year.
Due to inflationary pressure and increased project costs, some aspects of HS2 was postponed by the government in March, while it said it was committed to HS2 trains eventually terminating at London’s Euston Station, but for now was prioritizing the service between Old Oak Common and Birmingham.
Also defer of tunneling process to Euston Station was confirmed in April, while the preparation works for the launch of the two TBMs for the Euston Tunnel was continued.
