HS2 engineers have completed the last of more than 2,000 concrete piles that will underpin the foundations of the project’s Curzon Street station in Birmingham.
Stretching for more than 400m between Moor Street station and Millennium Point, Curzon Street will include seven platforms covered by an arched roof inspired by the railway architecture of the Victorian age.
Construction of the new station is progressing, with engineers this week completing the last of 2,011 piles. These concrete columns – each between 6m and 24m deep – have been sunk into the ground to support the building’s foundations.
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At the front of the station, passengers will pass through a paved square edged by gardens facing Moor Street Queensway.
The piling work, which began in September 2024, was delivered by HS2’s construction partner Mace Dragados joint venture (MDJV), working with Keltbray.
As part of the project, the team installed an 8m-high retaining wall at the western end of the site and excavated 47,000 cu m of material to create a level base for the station.
Once the earthworks were complete, the team brought in CFA piling rigs to install the reinforced concrete piles.
An extensive piling operation
Rodger Storey, MDJV’s senior project manager, said: “Completing the foundation works for Curzon Street station marks a major milestone in the delivery of the project. The team is proud of the major achievement represented [by] the extensive piling operation that forms the station’s foundations.
“With this crucial phase now finished, we look forward to progressing the construction of the station building itself, which will create further jobs, apprenticeships and supply chain opportunities as activity on site continues to ramp up.”
Following a short pause to allow Network Rail to carry out essential maintenance to the railway viaduct alongside the site, the final piles were installed in late February and early March.
The main focus now turns to preparing the way for the Digbeth extension to the West Midlands Metro – which will stop under the station on New Canal Street – and completion of the remaining foundation works.
In total, more than 19,000 tonnes of reinforced steel and 69,000 cu m of concrete are needed for the sub-surface work, with 7,000 tonnes of reinforcement already installed and 29,000 cu m of concrete poured.
