Construction

The construction of HS2 in the Wendover area has various aspects:

What is being built

The high level design of the HS2 railway line is defined in the Legislation, the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017, with the local implications for Wendover, Dunsmore & Halton described in the Community Focus Area 10 (CFA10) documentation.

Heading north from Rocky Lane there will be a short embankment before the Small Dean Viaduct which crosses the A413. This is a "Key Design Element" which was visualised for public consultation in 2018. The next year there was a "respond" event, when the outcome of the consultation was disclosed. There were only minor changes made to the Viaduct design. Since 2019 the design has evolved further, but the details will not become public until they are submitted to Buckinghamshire Council for approval.

This connects to the Small Dean Embankment which runs alongside the Wendover bypass until Bacombe Lane where the "Wendover Green Tunnel" starts. In practice this is a "Cut and Cover" tunnel, which involves a temporary cutting through Ellesborough Road to allow the installation of a pre-cast concrete structure. The tunnel will extend from Bacombe Lane for about 1.4km to just past where Folly Bridge crosses the bypass. Once installed the tunnel structure will be covered by earthworks and landscaping restoring Ellesborough Road to the current level. North of the tunnel the line will run under ground level in the "Wendover North Cutting" past Nash Lee Road and Nash Lee Lane until it rises above ground to cross the A4010 Risborough Road on the Stoke Mandeville Embankment.

What we can expect to happen

Under the powers given in the Act a significant amount of land has been defined within the "Limits of Land Available for Use" (LLAU), and the area involved is shown in maps included in the HS2 Context Report for the Aylesbury Vale District Council. Large areas have been acquired to accommodate temporary spoil dumps from excavation works, to form compounds for worksites and to allow some National Grid pylons to be moved. The report also shows what the eventual design will look like following construction and landscaping.

The Effiage Keir Ferrovial BAM Nuttall (EKFB) joint venture won the role as the Main Works Civils Contractor (MWCC) to Design and Build the "C2 section" of the line between Great Missenden and Brackley for £724m. They have made some minor changes to the original 2017 design as they developed the "Scheme Design" taking notice of how they would actually construct the line in practice. An example is that the Small Dean Viaduct has been amended to include an additional viaduct "span" with the agreement of HS2 Ltd and Buckinghamshire Council to simplify the realignment of Small Dean Lane and also improve the overall visual appearance.

During the design phase Fusion (a joint venture between Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, BAM Nuttall and Ferrovial) won the contract to undertake "Enabling Works", such as fencing off the required land, removing vegetation along the line of the route, undertaking archaeology surveys, and relocation of rare animal species.

The result of the detailed design work is a collection of documentation that is submitted to the Local Planning Authority for approval. The Wendover Section is split into several packages, including:

The power of the Council is very limited by the Act, and mainly covers the visible features of the eventual built system. However the submitted documentation is fairly comprehensive, including noise predictions and drainage plans along with the description of the earthworks, landscaping proposals, and details of all the new bridges for roads and footpaths. Under the "Schedule 17" provisions of the Act, all this documentation is available in the public domain; and can be seen by accessing the Bucks Council website to "View a planning application" and searching for HS2 proposals. You can also see the feedback received from statutory consultees (such as the Environment Agency and Natural England) and Council Officers which is all consolidated into the "Case Officers report" and the eventual acceptance letter from the Council including any caveats they require.

Once the Schedule 17 design is approved, the serious civil engineering works can be progressed subject to "Schedule 33" approval by the Environment Agency. This covers issues such as how pollution will be managed (resulting simple runoff from work sites, or from the use of Bentonite drilling mud for piling works through underground water bearing strata).

EKFB will undertake the "Major Works Civils" engineering, which entails some massive earthmoving along the line of the track, along with the construction of tunnels, viaducts and bridges for roads and footpaths. Additionally there are significant drainage systems being established to handle surface water runoff resulting from the change of the ground topology. To facilitate all these works, various "Compounds" have been created close to each major worksite, and a tarmac "Site Access Road" has been constructed enabling staff and lorries to travel between them. This is in addition to the "Haul Road" which is used by the massive Dump Trucks travelling generally along the line of the track. Once the path for the track has been created, EKFB will also undertake landscaping of the scheme. Separate contracts are being established for the installation of the actual track (with PORR UK) and the "Overhead Catenary System". These works are expected to be completed in 2027 to allow time for integration with the actual trains and signalling systems before trains enter operational service anticipated in 2029.

In the local area the "Wendover Dean" design was approved in June 2021, and by November the works were well under way with earthmoving for the Rocky Lane Cutting. (See video). The Wendover Green Tunnel and North Cutting "Schedule 17" design was approved in January 2023, and the Small Dean Viaduct and Green Tunnel portal designs followed in April.

The "Schedule 17" approval by Buckinghamshire Council (in its role as the Local Planning Authority) mainly concerns the Visible Design aspects of the eventual design, along with Drainage considerations (in its other role as the Local Flood Authority). Before work can commence "Schedule 33" approval also needs to be gained from the Environmental Authority in respect of land drainage, flood defence, and water resource implications of the construction activities. The Council also has "Schedule 33" powers relating to the Highways and Traffic implications.

Progress milestones are listed in the History pages.

Once the trains and track are available for testing the actual impact on the local community will be able to be assessed. One aspect is the actual noise experienced from the trains compared with the predictions in the Act.

EKFB have designed noise mitigation features such as barriers and earthworks to be included in the initial construction, but these will not be approved until they can be shown to work in practice. Similarly, EKFB are expected to remove temporary features (such as the site access roads) and return land not needed to a useful state by agreement with Buckinghamshire Council.

How it is being controlled

From a community perspective, the impact of the construction activities are regulated by the HS2 Code of Construction Practice (CoCP).

This covers a wide range of issues, from Contractors Working Hours, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage assets, Protecting trees, Air Quality, Noise, Light Pollution from worksites and Traffic Management provisions.

How the works are being Monitored

As part of the Environmental Statement included in the Act, there were definitions of the expected levels of noise and airborne pollution at various "receptor" locations.

Monitoring points have now been installed near Bacombe Lane, Ellesborough Road, across the bypass from the Station Approach Business Park, and at Nash Lee Lane.

Monthly Noise and Air Quality reports are now being produced, and can be downloaded from the HS2 website.

How to complain

If the Contractors are not following the CoCP, the first port of call for resolution is recording the incident with the HS2 Helpdesk (Phone 08081 434 434 or email: HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk). It is helpful if you can submit evidence such as a photograph and get a case reference.

The Helpdesk will generally refer local issues to the EKFB Community Engagement team for resolution. If this proves inadequate, you can escalate the complaint to Buckinghamshire Council (email ewrandhs2enquiries@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.) or the HS2 Independent Construction Commissioner. Wendover HS2 may be able to assist with all this, and you can contact us through this website or email to enquiries@whs2.org.