HS2 has completed the excavation of the Old Oak Common station underground box after three years of work moving now into a new phase of construction.
After permanent construction to form the walls of the box, the excavation began in June 2021. The vast underground box has a 1.12 mile (1.8 km) fibre-reinforced concrete diaphragm wall around it, and 1.3 million tonnes of London Clay has been removed from inside.
“The tremendous progress made by our construction team to complete the excavation of the box is an exciting milestone for the project as it signals the next phase of construction where high speed platforms will be built, as well as the station building itself. HS2’s Old Oak Common station will be transformational for local and regional connectivity and attract huge investment, development and regeneration to the surrounding area,” Sam Clark, Head of Delivery for HS2 Ltd, said.
HS2’s station construction partner, Balfour Beatty Vinci Systra joint venture (BBVS JV), working with their specialist structures contractor Expanded, completed the excavation with apprentice Miguel Jardim removing the last of the London clay from the box.
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. 32,000 tonnes 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.
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 commencing building the roof structure of the super-hub station. Timings and funding for the construction of the Euston Tunnel are being confirmed with government.
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 full excavated, the team will be working to pour the final sections of base slab to fully complete the box.
Six 450m platforms will be constructed in the underground box for HS2 services. Above ground, 8 further platforms are being built, and will be served by the Elizabeth Line, Great Western Mainline services and the Heathrow Express.
When HS2 opens, Old Oak Common will be the temporary terminus in the capital. Plans to transform the wider area around the station, a former railway and industrial site, are being led by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC).
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.
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