Estuary view of the three bridges that comprise the Medway Crossing. The slender High Speed 1 Eurostar bridge is on the left.
In 2001, work began on building two parallel viaducts, one for widening work on the M2 motorway designed to double its capacity to four lanes and the other to carry the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in the existing traffic corridor. Picture here are the slender and elegant Rail Link bridge on the left, the new M2 bridge in the middle and the existing M2 bridge on the right. The viaduct carrying the Channel Tunnel Rail Link over the River Medway estuary near Rochester in Kent is a uniquely styled bridge. The km long, 25-span pre-stressed concrete box girder viaduct has become a symbol for the new railway and the 152 m main span has extended the limit for high-speed train crossings. It was required to sit comfortably in its river environment and together with its two companion road bridges for the M2 motorway. The viaduct’s design was approved by the Royal Fine Arts Commission and received the Concrete Society Award for Civil Engineering in 2002. Building the bridge presented some complex engineering challenges. Concrete sections of rail-bed 40 m in length and weighing 1000 tonnes were assembled sequentially in a launch area on either side of the river, then gently slid on stainless steel bearings to be fixed on top of piers spanning the river banks. Pairs of 900-tonne capacity hydraulic jacks were used pushed the sections into place. The main span across the estuary itself was constructed as two balanced cantilevers arising from piers in the River Medway. The £ billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now High Speed One) was built between 1998-2007 and partly funded by the European Union, it forms a section of the Trans European Rail Network. It is basically a French-style high-speed rail line linking London with the Channel Tunnel, the Eurostar trains were developed on proven technology from the French TGV high-speed system. Stations on the CTRL are the Ashford International and new stations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford. The line ends at the rebuilt St. Pancras.
Size: 4064px × 2704px
Location: Medway Crossing, Kent, UK.
Photo credit: © qaphotos.com / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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