The UK’s longest rail bridge has won an award two months after construction work was completed.
HS2’s 2.1-mile-long Colne Valley viaduct in south Hertfordshire won the ‘engineering’ category at the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust’s Building Beauty Awards on Thursday November 21.
The final deck segment of the viaduct, which ended the Tay Bridge’s 137-year reign as the longest rail bridge in the country, was lowered into place on September 5.
Judges described the engineering and design as a “tour de force that despite its scale… treads lightly, skimming over the water, with the result a “breathtaking composition, its drama enhanced by its curving form as it crosses the lake”.
Construction of the bridge near Denham, which is made up of 1,000 140-tonne concrete segments and contains 57 arch spans, began in 2021. When HS2 opens trains will be running at up to 200mph as they cross the the River Colne, Grand Union Canal and the Colne Valley Regional Park to the north west of London.
Work at the curved viaduct is now turning from construction to installing rail systems.
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