HS2 has revealed that it has completed its biggest demolition challenge yet, as it clears a construction site close to the new Old Oak Common ‘super-hub’ station
The 42,000 square metre site, equivalent to the size of six football pitches, is where HS2 will build the Victoria Road Crossover Box, a huge underground structure designed to allow trains passing through the London tunnels to switch tracks.
The demolition of the site, delivered by HS2’s London enabling works contractor, a Costain Skanska joint venture (CSjv) and subcontractor McGee, involved the careful demolition of 8 separate buildings, with more than 98% of materials sent for reuse and recycling.
More than 6,500 cubic meters of rubble from the clearance of the old warehouses and light industrial units was processed on site and will be reused during construction of the tunnels and crossover box.
The team will now move on to clearing hardstanding, completing utility diversions and collecting geological data that will feed into the detailed design of the crossover box.
HS2’s programme director, Matthew Botelle, said: “The Victoria Road Crossover Box will be a vital part of the underground infrastructure that will make Old Oak Common one of the best-connected stations anywhere in the UK.
“It’s great to see so much progress and I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work over the past 6 months.”
CSjv Programme Director, Peter Jones, said: “I am proud of the CSjv team, which has worked together to achieve this significant milestone for HS2. Our work continues apace across London, with the Ibis hotel and NTH Insull wing near Euston now almost complete and the University College London building on Hampstead Road expected to be finished within weeks.”
The underground crossover box is being designed and will be built for HS2 by a Costain/Skanska/STRABAG joint venture (SCS Railways). The 130-metre long box will be 25 metres underground, with 3 headhouses at ground level to provide maintenance and emergency access as well as a separate ancillary shaft.
