Construction of HS2's new super-hub station in west London, Old Oak Common, has moved into a new phase as workers on the project completed the excavation of the huge underground box structure where high-speed trains will stop.
The excavation has taken three years, after permanent construction to form the walls of the box began in June 2021. The vast underground box has a 1.12-mile fibre-reinforced concrete diaphragm wall around it, and 1.3 million tonnes of London Clay has been removed from inside.
HS2's station construction partner, Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA joint venture (BBVS JV), working with its specialist structures contractor Expanded, completed the excavation with apprentice Miguel Jardim removing the last of the London Clay from the box.
In a further breakthrough, more than 1500 apprentices have now started work on HS2 – putting the project firmly on track to meet its target of generating 2000 apprenticeships. Jardim, 19, a civil engineering apprentice from Surrey Quays, southeast London, joined in the landmark excavation at Old Oak Common as the 1500th apprentice to start a role helping to build HS2.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Jardim said: "It is quite an honour to be part of celebrating such a massive excavation milestone – the opportunity came along very unexpectedly.
It is quite an honour to be part of celebrating such a massive excavation milestone
"The best thing about my job here at Old Oak Common is all the experience I'm gaining from going out onsite daily, seeing progress coming along. I would 100% encourage others to start working on HS2, as it's a massive project where you get to work with lots of people with similar goals. There is also a great network of people that you can learn from and connect with."
The excavation was completed section by section within the box starting from the west and the east of the structure and meeting in the middle.
The box is 20m in depth and a reinforced concrete base slab up to 2m in depth is being poured throughout. 32,000t of steel rebar, assembled by hand on site, has been used in the box alongside 160 reinforced concrete columns, which have been installed inside the outer wall to help support the structure.
All steel used was 100% responsibly sourced and most of the concrete used is produced by the London Concrete batching plant on site, which reuses rainwater in its mixes. Now the box has been fully excavated, the team will be working to pour the final sections of the base slab to fully complete the box.
Six 450m platforms will be constructed in the underground box for HS2 services. Above ground, eight further platforms are being built, and will be served by the Elizabeth Line, Great Western Mainline services and the Heathrow Express. Old Oak Common station will become one of the country's most vital transport hubs which will be directly connected on the UK's railway network to more than 170 destinations.
The east end of the underground box has been handed over to HS2's London Tunnels contractor, SCS JV, who are preparing to construct HS2's running tunnel to Euston. Two giant tunnel boring machines will be lowered into the underground box later this year before the station team commence building the roof structure of the super-hub station. Timings and funding for the construction of the Euston Tunnel are being confirmed with government.
