Over one million cubic metres of earth have been excavated by Balfour Beatty VINCI at the Washwood Heath site, in preparation for the construction of HS2‘s new railway nerve centre. The massive cut-and-fill exercise has seen the cleaning of recycled material which has then been reused to level the ground. This innovative approach has seen the need to import and export aggregate material eliminated saving around 27,200 road wagons or 54,400 vehicle movements.

The Network Integrated Control Centre will begin construction in 2024 and will be the ‘nerve centre’ for HS2’s network and will support a staff of around 100 people in order to carry out real-time operation of the railway. The site will also feature:

• Stabling yard with 14 tracks
• Maintenance building for HS2’s fleet
• Facilities for staff

Once the site is fully functioning, it will support approximately 550 jobs.

Prior to the excavation of the site, Balfour Beatty VINCI also carried out the diversion of Wash Brook, which previously ran north to south through the site. The diversion of the brook which connects to the River Tame represents just one of the many environmental designs set to feature at the site, as the project also has a key aim of supporting local wildlife habitats.

The site at Washwood Heath has a long history with the railway dating back to the early 1900s when it saw use as a railway sidings and marshalling yard. Due to the ongoing heavy industrial use of the site over many years, the ground was extremely contaminated and required an intensive clean-up of the site by specialist contractor Duo Group.

The next step for Balfour Beatty VINCI will see the contractor focus on preparing the west tunnel portal in order to be ready for two tunnel boring machines to break through, connecting Warwickshire and Birmingham over 3.5 miles.

Alvin Pedzai, HS2 Project Manager responsible for main works civils delivery at Washwood Heath, said:

“We’re absolutely delighted with the progress made on site. The earthworks and ground remediation programme for Washwood Heath is nearing completion, and we’re on track to handover to HS2’s Rail Systems team, who will lead the next stage in this exciting programme of work to bring this once-derelict site back to life.”

Tim Cook, Project Manager at Balfour Beatty VINCI, said:

“Excavating one million cubic tonnes of earth is a great achievement, demonstrating the progress we’re making at Washwood Heath. Every effort has been made to recycle and reuse the material on this brownfield site, allowing us to repurpose part of Birmingham‘s celebrated industrial history.”

“This more efficient approach is good news for both the environment and nearby communities, drastically reducing the number of lorry movements on local roads.”