Stretch of M42 Near Birmingham To Close For 10 Days for HS2 Bridge Installation

A stretch of the M42 near Birmingham will be closed for ten days over Christmas so the Marston Box bridge can be put installed for the High Speed Two (HS2) railway. Dubbed the UK’s first “box-slide” bridge, the Marston Box bridge has been built to the side of the motorway over the past few months waiting to be put in place. The motorway will be closed in both directions between junction nine for Sutton Coldfield and junction 10 for Tamworth and Nuneaton. Southbound closures will begin 9pm on 23 December and northbound from 5pm on 24 December. Both sides will reopen at 5am on 3 January. The 12,000t bridge will be shifted into position over several days by a hi-tech raft in which the new structure will be used to take high-speed trains across the motorway, north of Lea Marston and Curdworth. It will connect to Dunton Wood Embankment to the south and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Viaduct to the north. The same stretch of motorway was closed over last year’s Christmas period to allow HS2 to conduct preparatory work for the bridge to be built.