HS2 plans conveyor belt across A413 in Buckinghamshire

The company building the high-speed rail link between London and the North of England plans to build a conveyor belt over a road and railway line.

HS2 Ltd said it was looking to build a temporary structure to move earth over the A413, near Wendover, and the Chiltern rail line.

It said it would reduce the number of journeys by lorries carrying earth.

Buckinghamshire Council said it was looking at what planning applications would need to be submitted.

HS2 is a project to create better rail links between London and other major cities that would cut journey times and increase capacity.

The council said HS2 Ltd wanted to install the conveyer belt near Small Dean as part of its "mass haul strategy" to move earth from the Small Dean Viaduct launch compound, across the A413 London Road and the rail line over to Small Dean Lane.

It would be used for two years with an aim to "drastically reduce the number of truck movements on the A413", the council said.

Without the conveyor, there would be an estimated 200 lorries per day over a period of three and half years.

Buckinghamshire Council said as well as investigating what planning applications would need to be submitted it would also be "seeking reassurances, from HS2 and its contractors, that any impacts on the community, such as light and noise, are minimised".

HS2 Ltd said cuttings were planned for the area south of the A413 and the material excavated needs to be moved north to help form embankments and noise barriers elsewhere on the route.

Senior project manager, Patrick Dineen, said HS2 was "committed to cutting the amount of embedded carbon in construction and working to reduce the number of lorries on local roads".

"The fully-enclosed 600m long conveyor will avoid the need to transport excavated material on the public road network," he said.

"In total, the conveyor is expected to shift the equivalent of 58,000 lorry loads of material during construction, helping to reduce disruption for the community and other road users."

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