Gravelly Hill Interchange

Gravelly Hill Interchange, better known throughout the UK by its nickname Spaghetti Junction, is junction 6 of the M6 motorway where it meets the A38(M) Aston Expressway in the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham, England. The interchange was opened on 24 May 1972.OverviewThe interchange's colloquial name "Spaghetti Junction" was coined in 1965 by journalists from the Birmingham Evening Mail. On 1 June 1965, reporter Roy Smith described plans for the then unbuilt junction as a "cross between a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire knot", and a sub-editor headlined the article "Spaghetti Junction".The junction provides access to and from the A38 (Tyburn Road), A38(M) (Aston Expressway), the A5127 (Lichfield Road/Gravelly Hill), and several unclassified local roads. It covers 30acres, serves 18 routes and includes 4km of slip roads, but only 1km of the M6 itself. Across 5 different levels, it has 559 concrete columns, reaching up to 24.4m. The engineers had to elevate 21.7km of motorway to accommodate two railway lines, three canals, and two rivers.In 1958, the Ministry of Transport commissioned the engineering firm, Sir Owen Williams & Partners, to investigate possible routes to connect the M6, the A38(M) and the A38 trunk road.