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The Edit

RAIL

Welsh railways at a disadvantage because HS2 is classified as England and Wales project

Classifying High Speed 2 (HS2) as an England and Wales project is a disbenefit to Wales depriving it of £5bn of vital investment in its rail network, according to Welsh MPs.

​At a Westminster Hall debate about railway infrastructure in Wales in May, Welsh MPs confirmed that they would push for HS2 to be reclassified as an England-only project and to seek the devolution of rail infrastructure planning and funding in Wales.

MPs for constituencies in Wales explained that current rail infrastructure funding is unfairly hampering the country. They have identified many areas of rail infrastructure in Wales in need of renewal and upgrade that will be liable to failure without fair investment.

Neath MP Christina Rees introduced the debate highlighting the HS2 issue and how it impacts Wales. “HS2 is classed as an England and Wales project despite not a single foot of track being laid in Wales,” Rees said. “This means that unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales will not receive a penny in funding as a result of Barnett consequentials [formula used by the government to ensure a share of additional funding – allocated only to England – to other countries].”

Rees said that had HS2 been classified as an England-only project, Wales would have received £5bn additional funding, which could have been invested in its railway infrastructure.

HS2 had been classified as an England and Wales project because it is supposed to improve connections between North Wales and London, but Rees called this “intangible”.

ROADS

Hereford bypass could be revived after local elections

The cancelled Hereford bypass, costed at £190M in 2020, could be back on the agenda after May’s local elections when Conservatives and Liberal Democrats gained seats on the city council. The parties believe they won their seats because they support the bypass scheme.

The bypass had been scrapped by the GreenIndependent coalition in February 2021 following a review by consultant Mott MacDonald.

That decision upset Hereford residents who expressed concern that the city is too congested. The scheme was developed by Balfour Beatty and WSP. It involves building an 8km road around the west of Hereford, leaving the A49 to the south and rejoining it further north. It would cut through agricultural land and cross the River Wye.

STRUCTURES

Troubled Nuneham Viaduct jacked to enable abutment replacement

Network Rail engineers led by Balfour Beatty have jacked up Nuneham Viaduct in Oxfordshire and begun removing its southern embankment before building a new abutment.

The bowstring truss bridge across the River Thames near Abingdon was closed in April after significant movement was recorded in the southern abutment despite attempts to remediate the structure (NCE, last month).

The bridge opened in 1907 and although a new arched brick-built northern abutment was constructed in 1929, the southern abutment was not rebuilt. The bridge structure has been propped to allow the old southern abutment to be demolished and 3,000m³ of embankment to be excavated.

Piling work for a new abutment was expected to start as this issue of NCE went to press. The railway between Didcot Parkway and Oxford is not expected to reopen until June.

TUNNELS

HS2 tunnel sinkhole

Photo: jessica bazzard ollivier

Investigations are underway after ground collapsed above the route of High Speed 2’s (HS2’s) Chiltern Tunnel near Shardloes Lake near Amersham in May.

HS2 Ltd said the 4m wide, 4m deep depression had not halted tunnelling as the collapse is above a completed section of tunnel.

An HS2 Ltd spokesperson said the hole was bowl-shaped and “current thinking is that it is probably a pre-existing dissolution feature or fissure which has partially collapsed”.

FLOODS

Great Yarmouth flood defence refurbishment cuts carbon cost

Focusing on refurbishing existing flood defence walls in Great Yarmouth has helped contractor JBA Bentley cut almost 19,000t of carbon from recently completed work for the Environment Agency.

During the £42.9M second phase of work, which started in September 2019, 40 flood defence walls covering a total length of 4km have been refurbished, with replacement only being undertaken where necessary.

According to the Environment Agency, the work will extend the service life of the defences by 30 to 50 years. It has improved flood protection for 2,115 properties.

A further three phases of work are planned for the flood defences at Great Yarmouth. This will upgrade a total of 12km of defences to extend the improved protection to over 6,000 properties.

Great Yarmouth has been flooded numerous times, including in January 2017 when 5,000 homes had to be evacuated.

STRUCTURES

Scottish bridge scrapped as 'unaffordable' despite £20M grant

A planned footbridge in Scotland is to be scrapped after being branded “unaffordable” by the local council.

A proposed iconic footbridge in Falkirk to link Helix Park, Falkirk Stadium and Forth Valley College was granted £20M of Levelling Up funding in October 2021.

Falkirk Council is expected to axe the plans as the cost estimates have risen from £16M to £25M. The council would have had to make up the shortfall, which it says it cannot afford to do.

The bridge is part of a bigger project to improve road links between Grangemouth and Falkirk on the M9. This is set to continue without the bridge. New traffic control measures that will replace the footbridge are set to cost £14.1M.

The futuristic-looking bridge was to be built with four decks to take cyclists and pedestrians safely across major roads that meet at Westfield. It was designed by WSP in partnership with Falkirk Council.

ENERGY

European countries to coordinate North Sea renewables

Nine European countries, including the UK, have signed up to a plan to turn the North Sea into a major global renewable energy source by 2050. Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland have agreed to coordinate their offshore wind plans.

The aim is to maximise the potential for wind power generation in the North Sea, where there are several major wind farms.

The Ostend Declaration pledges to work towards producing at least 120GW of wind energy by 2030 and at least 300GW of energy by the middle of the century.

Under plans announced in April, Denmark will commit to building 35GW of capacity by 2050, Germany will build 26.4GW and Britain 50GW.

The plans were developed as a result of the energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, which led to a ban by western countries on imported Russian gas.

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