Spaghetti Junction to be immortalised... in LEGO

The iconic road structure, which took four years to create, is set to be immortalised in the world-famous interlocking plastic brick at the new Legoland Discovery Centre in Birmingham this summer.

It will mark the 50th anniversary of work starting on the road and also celebrate 2018 as the Year of Engineering.

Highways England’s regional director Catherine Brookes said the team were delighted to see that the junction would be included in the new attraction.

She said: "Spaghetti Junction is one of those structures that is known around the world and we’re thrilled to see the road included.

"The opening of Legoland later this year also marks our Year of Engineering campaign which is designed to get children thinking about engineering and the world around them.

"It is also 50 years since work started to build Spaghetti Junction and it’s timely that it should be recognised for its local and national significance in supporting the motorway network."

Construction started on the sprawling structure some five decades ago and today Spaghetti Junction, officially called Gravelly Hill Interchange but famously known as its fun nickname, continues to carry more than 220,000 vehicles every day.

Known for its winding, spaghetti-like structure, the Junction has 559 concrete columns, some reaching up to 80 feet high. And it's been revealed that more than 6,800 hours will be ploughed into designing and constructing the miniature road system.

It will be joining other notable landmarks from Birmingham including The Library of Birmingham, The Cube, New Street Station and the BT Tower, to be recreated in Lego.

The first of 45 scaled masterpieces are now being recreated by a specialist team of Lego model builders, in time for the opening in a few months.

Construction of Spaghetti Junction took some four years to complete and its elevated position sees constant maintenance work taking place underneath it, often unseen by many motorists on their daily commute.

Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham is set to open to the general public this summer. Visit birmingham.legolanddiscoverycentre.co.uk for more.