Excavation completed at Old Oak Common station

Over the past three years a staggering 1.3 million tonnes of London Clay has been removed from the station box – that’s enough to fill more than 300 Olympic-size swimming pools!

Construction is being delivered for HS2 by the Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA joint venture (BBVS JV), working with specialist structures contractor Expanded. The JV took full possession of the site in July 2020, and over the past four years has been working hard on the station box, which has involved the creation of a diaphragm wall and plenty of piling activity.

The box is 20m in depth and a reinforced concrete base slab up to 2m in depth is being poured throughout. Some 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 conveyor system to remove the excavated materials became fully operational in November 2022, and has removed the need for more than 75,000 lorries from the roads. The conveyor took the spoil to the nearby London Logistics Hub, from where it has been transported by rail to beneficial reuse sites in Kent, Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire.

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.

Nizar Awad, Old Oak Common Project Director at SYSTRA, said: “This milestone is truly significant in the Old Oak Common station project and a proud moment for every member of the team. It is not only a construction achievement but it has had a positive impact on the environment too by reducing the need for HGVs and ensuring reuse of materials. We now look forward to the next phase of the work to bring the station to life and bring high speed trains between London and the Midlands.”

Six 450m platforms will be constructed in the underground box for HS2 services. Above ground, eight further platforms are being built, and will be served by the Elizabeth Line, Great Western Mainline services and the Heathrow Express. 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.

The east end of the underground box has been handed over to HS2’s London Tunnels contractor, 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 commences building the roof structure of the super-hub station.

Learn about our work on HS2 here.