The Asfordby factory site playing a big role in the building of the HS2 rail project

Melton MP Alicia Kearns with employees at the Freyssinet factory at Asfordby

Staff at a business premises at Asfordby are playing a major role in the construction of England’s HS2 high speed rail network.

Civil engineering company, Freyssinet, recently opened up a new manufacturing site at the Melton Commercial Park estate and has recruited more than 100 people to aid its work on the project, which will see rapid new services run between the North West and the South East, stopping at Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Freyssinet is working with HS2 on a number of stretches of the project with its joint-venture partners Tierra Armada, Roger Bullivant and Freyssinet International (FTB JV).

They have secured a significant contract to manufacture precast bridge segments for Balfour Beatty VINCI’s (BBV) section of the HS2 line.

Some of the huge precast beams being produced Freyssinet at Asfordby for HS2

Melton MP, Alicia Kearns, visited the factory to find out more. She said: “It was fascinating to visit Freyssinet and learn how our local manufacturing site is playing a significant role in building the largest infrastructure project in Europe, while also providing valuable employment opportunities to many members of our communities.

“The sheer size of these structures was extraordinary, and the precision and skill needed to produce them needs a talented team of engineers which was evident when meeting the team here.”

In less than a year, the site in Melton Commercial Park has been transformed from unused ground to a factory facility producing precast beams for HS2 bridges.

The project there includes designing and producing more than 38,000 precast pre-tensioned concrete bridge beams and supplying beams measuring up to 33m long and weighing a maximum of 100 tonnes to 76 structures.