First images of HS2’s biggest ‘green bridge’

HS2 has revealed new images of the project’s largest ‘green bridge’, which will cross the high-speed railway near Brackley. The bridge will cross one of the railway’s longest and deepest cuttings, which will stretch for 1.5 miles past the village of Turweston on the edge of Buckinghamshire and West Northants. The 99m-wide bridge is designed to take a local road over the new railway with new hedgerows and vegetation planted on top to create a space for wildlife. It will also carry a footpath and bridleway.

Green bridges are an increasingly common sight above new railways and motorways on the continent, offering protection for birds, mammals and insects, and with longer ‘green tunnels’ also help protect views across the countryside and reduce noise and disturbance for local communities.

Sixteen green bridges will be built as part of the HS2 project, with most carrying a combination of local roads, footpaths and farm access routes. Five green tunnels are also being built, with some up to one-and-a-half miles long. Together they will help knit together 33 square kilometres of new wildlife habitats alongside the railway including 7 million new trees and shrubs.