HS2 Wendover Dean Viaduct

[@XxBec3509]

Interesting videos. Thanks for showing us.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

I’m glad you enjoyed! Motivates me to make more.

[@TheByard]

I was employed on the Taiwan High Speed Rail project in 2000-2005 as Senior Inspector of Work on a 16 km section that had 11 tunnels, 10 bridge and a large section of viaduct and raised station. The ROW remained with a viaduct after the flood plain to bring the line into more stable ground in the foot hills. The tunnels were excavated using the NATM system of excavating short sections of top heading, installing roof bolts, mesh and applying a sprayed concrete lining in layers. Continuing down with the mid section and invert to form a ring structure. The viaduct section was built on spread footings, extra width piers capped with Earthquake suppression pads. The deck spans were either DSM, ASM or falsework cast insitu station tracks and platforms. One river bridge was erected using steel frame units, the others were cast insitu stressed beams and decks. The viaducts provided free movement for farmers, rather than an embankment. The contract was awarded to THSR on a design, build equip and run basis. The partners in THSR included Eva Air and Fubon bank, expat employees were given access to free flights and banking from these two companies.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Fascinating, thank you for your well informed comment!

[@caractacus22]

Looking at this, I’ll forget high speed in the U.K. we are a small country,a 125 would have bone just as well.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Thank you for your comment :)

[@nwcitroen2222]

No, the UK is most definitely *not* a small country- the fact that we have many internal flight routes is more than sufficient evidence to disprove your daft assertion. In reality the original HS2 network isn't ambitious enough for this country's long distance transport needs.

[@thedubwhisperer2157]

I can't help but wonder if £60billion could not have been better spent on our country...

[@jamesmaclarnon]

@@thedubwhisperer2157 Probably, thank you for your comment!

[@alexanderswarbrick4105]

A whole lot of NIMBYs and armchair experts in this comment section. Nice to see so many people with no clue opposed to progress 😊

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Ahahaha, I love my community we are slowly building, bring on the debate! Thank you for your comment.

[@TonyAbbeyFETraining]

Great video. I like the background and timeline you have described. It’s sad you have to put up with the drivel from those who can’t appreciate this engineering masterpiece.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Ahhh, thank you. It’s interesting collating points of view on this page though. More comments the better!

[@davidwatson8292]

Joe90. Why do anything? You'd have us in mud huts and dressed in bear skins. After all, we soon won't need heating with the world heating up! We won't need heat pumps either. Thank god at 20K a throw.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

😂 👍🏻

[@nickmckeown6900]

That's a 70 tonner machine not 90 tons

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Its hard to tell, not a great deal of difference visibly from a distance. You’re probably right but I still think it could be the 90 tonner machine.

[@bobsmall6908]

Total waste of tax payers money.. this country isn’t big enough for a high speed rail line.. how many hospitals could and should have been built instead of this folly !

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Thank you for your comment 👍🏻

[@nickbourne3202]

Look at the country side getting done over for what. To get some place 15 min quicker. Bet lots of nice houses got knocked down for this rubbish to get built 😮

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Thank you for your comment :)

[@nwcitroen2222]

Well, that's one way of showing that you are massively ignorant about what HS2 does (and it's not about speed). It's quite easy to get better informed about this vital project- maybe have a go?

[@jamesmaclarnon]

@@nwcitroen2222 I will try my best! Thanks

[@christopherbentley5216]

I live closby. The mess and chaos HS2 has caused and for what? To drop the time from London to Birmingham? This has cost billions, no one will benefit apart from the consultant's, land agents and construction companies etc. Monumental waste of money that would be better allocated to building new hospitals,

[@sidesplitter9497]

The point of the project is capacity on the rail network.

[@craigambrose4375]

@@sidesplitter9497 Just like the Transpennine Upgrade - Going from two tracks to four - Building capacity for more trains.

[@jamesmaclarnon]

Thank you for your comment :)

[@christopherbentley5216]

@@sidesplitter9497 With respect. If that's the argument. Why are Avanti West Coast allowed to cancel 30% of it's services, and why is the new East West route now having only 1z freight path per hour,instead of the original proposal of 2x ?. And why is it only going to Birmingham when there are already 2 main line routes from London to Birmingham ..

[@nwcitroen2222]

So you don't think it is important to get more people out of their polluting cars and into electric trains that free up capacity on existing lines for better local and regional services, and more freight then? No? Or are you just another tedious NIMBY...?

[@dombaker6210]

12 cubic meters of the chikterns AONB with every scoop. Nice. Firstly why the heck didn't this line go out of the North of London where the natural route is. Secondly, rather than digging 8 million tons of Chiltern Area of outstanding natural beauty, why wasn't this tunneled for another 2 miles to protect the chiktern hills. There is no way tunneling would have been more expensive than the destruction of the countryside that is currently happening. Also the bit about the "meticulous" environmental management and the attention to "detail" is rubbish. This morning after rhe heavy rain and no grass to soakaway the water. It ran off the land at an incredible rate and flushed that same bright orange clay earth down all than lanes and caused a disaster to the A413 blow which flooded so badly it almost came to a standstill. Orange water was blasting down the asks of the lanes today like niagra falls as the rain simply washes straight off the surface and doesn't soak away. Rocks the size of footballs were all over the lanes leading down to the A413, that came from the HS2 site. It's an environmental disaster in every way. Work should be forcibly stopped until they spend a year putting in a proper water management solution to correct the ruination to the natural water flow that they have caused.

[@nwcitroen2222]

Why are getting all worked about this very unremarkable bit of the Chilterns? Somehow you have managed to be completely oblivious to the noisy A-road, the non-electrified railway with noisy diesel trains, and a shed load of massive electricity pylons. I detect another tedious NIMBY!

[@JT-nr2ss]

Do you think those earthworks and construction sites are permanent or something?? Christ, please take a break from sucking batteries to contemplate what the site will look like when completed....

[@JamesMurphy-ry2mx]

@@JT-nr2ss well said! I wasn’t around when the motorways were constructed but I’ll bet the letters to the newspapers were full of people saying it was a waste of taxpayers money.