VINCI builds the visitor centre at the Château of Versailles in three months
“The contractual scheme we devised for the Hall of Mirrors was a prototype, but the construction of this pavilion shows that it can readily be replicated,” said Xavier Huillard, CEO of Vinci, at the signing of the sponsorship agreement between VINCI and the Établissement Public de Versailles on 1 April 2008. The challenge has now been met, with the pavilion opening to the public on 1 July. Vinci, which was given an AOT temporary occupation permit, acted as contracting authority for the works, which were primarily carried out by Group companies. The financial commitment was nearly €2 million. The pavilion, located in the main courtyard of the Château, was built to serve for a three-year period, during which the visitor reception areas will undergo final renovation. The temporary pavilion has all the requisite technical facilities for a public building and is also an original, and ambitious, work. It was designed by architects Yves Pagès and Benoît Le Thierry d’Ennequin of the Explorations Architecture firm, who explain that they “opted for an abstract, sculptural, harmonious, respectful and modest structure.” The pavilion’s wide entrance is extended by an interior space that becomes progressively narrower to channel the substantial numbers of people (nearly 5 million per year) who visit the site. Since the structure is temporary, lightweight materials had to be used, but the quality requirement called for them to be harmonised. The pavilion is therefore built of steel, glass and wood. The concrete foundations were cast over a plastic film to protect the cobblestones of the courtyard, which were not to be removed, except in a few isolated cases. CBC Service (VINCI Construction) was in charge of the envelope and joinery works packages and worked with Eiffel to set up the metal structure and the glass panels in three weeks. Teams from Satob, another VINCI Construction subsidiary, then installed a cladding of wood slats to shield visitors from direct sunlight. Sdel ITT (VINCI Energies) was, for its part, in charge of the electrical and ventilation-heating works packages. Overall, about 50 people took part in the project, with everyone working toward the shared goal of handing over a high-quality structure in record time. At a press conference held on 30 June, the day before the structure was opened to the public, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, President of the Établissement Pubic de Versailles, said: “The generosity and commitment of the VINCI Group are exemplary and very gratifying. The Group mobilised its expertise to meet the challenge of building a contemporary structure in record time.”
From Qatar to Bahrain : The longest bridge in the world
VINCI Construction Grands Projets, lead contractor of a consortium of construction firms, and Middle East Dredging Company (MEDCO, a DEME subsidiary) have just signed a design-build contract, valued at 3 billion dollars, with the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation for a causeway, a fixed maritime link, between Qatar and Bahrain. The contract was signed on 6 May in the royal palace in Bahrain, in the presence of the Crown Princes, VINCI Chairman Yves-Thibault de Silguy, and Pierre Berger, Chairman of VINCI Construction Grands Projets. This project of the Qatar- Bahrain Causeway Foundation (an inter-governmental body created for this purpose), calls for the design and construction of a 2x2-lane, 40 km-long fixed motorway link between Qatar and Bahrain. It will feature a series of artificial embankments where the sea is shallow, and bridges over deeper water, with a total of 18 km of embankments and 22 km of viaducts and bridges, including two 400 m cable-stayed bridges allowing shipping to pass through. The structure will comprise 500 piers. The “Friendship Bridge” will create a direct link between Qatar and Bahrain, fostering trade and making travel easier for residents of the two countries. At present, the journey by road takes five hours; with the causeway, it will only take about 30 minutes. The project will have to meet rigorous environmental and ecological standards. The consortium of construction firms is composed of VINCI Construction Grands Projets (leader), QDVC (a Qatari subsidiary owned 51% by Qatari Diar and 49% by VINCI Construction Grands Projets), Hochtief and CCC. The dredging works will be undertaken by MEDCO. After a 9-month preparatory phase and more than four years of works, the bridge will come into service in 2013. 12,000 vehicles are expected to use it daily.
Cofiroute completes its interurban network
On 24 April, four months ahead of contractually-agreed schedule, Cofiroute opened to traffic the bypass round the north of Angers provided by the A11 motorway. The bringing into service of this 18 km peri-urban section, featuring a 530 m curved viaduct and a 1.7 km tunnel in a cut-and-cover trench, marks the completion of a 4-year project which has occupied up to 450 people – among them the teams from VINCI Construction, contributing within the framework of the SCAO/Socaso consortium, project manager and supplying the construction works. For Cofiroute, the contracting authority, the A11 Angers represents an investment of 426 millions euros, i.e. 95% of the financing of the project – with the tolls providing the concessionaire’s remuneration. In addition to the benefits for the residents of Angers (the motorway will absorb most of the through traffic hitherto causing congestion along the banks of the River Maine), the opening of this last link of the A11 completes the Nantes-Paris trunk route, with motorway conditions now available from end to end. For Cofiroute, this inauguration was also a celebration of the bringing into service of the 1,100th and last kilometre of its interurban network. Over the period of its 2004-2008 Plan , Cofiroute will have invested 3 billion euros in its construction programme. According to Pierre Coppey, Chairman & CEO of Cofiroute, the A11 Angers represents a new generation of “eco-motorways”, very much in step with the expectations expressed during the environment Grenelle (discussion process). Exemplary in this regard (integration into its environment, hydraulic structures, respect for biodiversity, 10 hectares of green space restored to local residents thanks to the covering-over of the tunnel…), the A11 Angers embodies “a high environmental quality,” destined to “become the standard for our entire network”. With this in mind, Cofiroute intends suggesting to the French government, within the framework of its next Plan, that a whole series of investments be made that will improve the environmental performance of the entire network already in service. The A11 Angers also prefigures new standards as regards safety, with its 1.7 km tunnel boasting a multiplicity of new features in this area. “Like the A11 Angers, the motorway as a whole must offer maximum safety, in the interests of both our customers and our workforce. That is why I have decided to postpone until June 2009 the bringing into service of the first section of the A86 Duplex in the Paris region,” announced Pierre Coppey. This 10 km-long tunnel, the first on such a scale to apply the new European rules on safety in road tunnels, must meet unprecedentedly stringent requirements; developing and fine-tuning the operating systems will thus involve testing 70,000 check points and 250 operational scenarios. “As a precaution, out of our concern for safety and respect for our customers, we do not intend to launch the A86 Duplex as long as there is the slightest of risks, the slightest malfunction,” concluded the Chairman & CEO of Cofiroute as he summed up his vision of the eco-motorway of the future: “A motorway that works with the environment, user-friendly and safe, at the service of sustainable mobility.”
VINCI Concessions wins contract for Prado Sud tunnel in Marseilles
At the beginning of February, the Marseille Provence Métropole Urban Community awarded the concession contract for the Prado Sud tunnel to the consortium formed by (58.5%) and Eiffage (41.5%) The tunnel, some 1.5 km in length, will be an extension to the Prado Carénage tunnel, built in the early 1990s, and will link the A50 motorway to the local road network at Avenue du Prado 2 and Boulevard Michelet. The project calls for the design, financing, construction, maintenance and operation of the Prado Sud tunnel, within the framework of a 46-year outsourcing-of-public-services agreement. The total investment amount is €193m, of which €146m will be devoted to the design and works stages. Financing will be through a toll paid by customers to the Prado Sud company, which will be the concession-holder. The works, which will take five years, will be carried out by a consortium composed of Eiffage Travaux Publics (41.5%), lead contractor, and (58.5%). Entry into service of the new link is planned for the spring of 2013. Operation of this toll structure will be entrusted to the Société Marseillaise du Tunnel Prado Carénage, in which VINCI and Eiffage are shareholders.
A85 and A89: Completion of major cross-country routes
Henri Stouff, Chairman of VINCI Autoroutes France, inaugurated the final stretch, Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher – Druye, of the A85 (Cofiroute network), and then, just a month later, the A89’s “missing link” between Thenon and Terrasson (ASF network). On 18 December 2007, the first motorists were able to drive along the A85 motorway between Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher and Druye. The opening of this 63 km stretch, built by Cofiroute (VINCI Concessions), marks the completion of the main road between Angers and Vierzon, bypassing the south of Tours (206 km). It completes the West-East cross-country route (Nantes-Lyons) linking the Atlantic seaboard with the east of France and the Rhône-Alpes region in the south-east. Spanning the départements of Indre-et-Loire and Loir-et-Cher, the Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher – Druye section features three structures crossing the River Cher between Saint-Aignan and Mareuil, the works here having been preceded by ten years of preparatory design works and consultations with elected representatives and local residents: the Cher viaduct (500 m), spanning the river, the intermediate viaduct (450 m) and the Coteau viaduct (250 m) – engineering structures designed to improve the flow of the Cher when in spate. Formal opening of the “missing link” A month later, on 16 January, the formal opening of the 18 km long, Thenon-Terrasson “missing link” marked the completion of the construction of the A89 (Bordeaux – Clermont-Ferrand), built and operated by ASF (VINCI Concessions). It had taken more than three years of works and an investment of €285m, financed by ASF, to create this section. It is expected that by 2010 some 10,000 vehicles a day will be using it, 24% of them heavy goods vehicles, thus relieving the pressures on the RN89. Completion of the A89 between Bordeaux and Clermont-Ferrand (324 km), achieved after 12 years of works (i.e. some 2.5 km of motorway added to the network each month), represents a total investment of €4 billion, provided by ASF. This route has triggered economic development in the areas it passes through: alongside the sections already opened, the number of business parks has doubled in 12 years, and a logistical centre for road freight has grown up around the junction of the A89 and the A20 at Brive. Hotel chains and major retailers, too, have set up shop along the route. A major factor in favour of regional development, then, the A89 now links the Aquitaine and Limousin regions, and has brought the Atlantic seaboard closer to the centre of France. As of now, Bordeaux is less than 4 hours from Clermont-Ferrand, and a drive of less than 5 hours from Lyons. Over and above their technical characteristics, the aim with the A85 and the A89 has been that they be environmentally friendly (a particular effort has been made to preserve the natural environment and to contain noise pollution…) and serve the interests of socio-economic development.
Confinement structure for Chernobyl
The Novarka consortium, made up (50/50) of VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead contractor) and Bouygues Travaux Publics, has secured the design-build contract for the «New Safe Confinement» at Chernobyl. Worth over 430 million euros, the contract is due to be signed on 17 September in Chernobyl. Undertaken on behalf of the Ukrainian state undertaking ChNPP and financed by an international fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the contract involves the design and construction of a 20,000 tonne, arch-shaped steel confinement structure, 105 m in height, 150 m long and with a span of 257 m. This structure will cover over the existing concrete sarcophagus, built in extreme haste to isolate reactor No. 4 after it exploded on 26 April 1986. Designed on the basis of the solution suggested by VINCI as far back as 1992, it provides for the dismantling of the old sarcophagus and the remains of the damaged reactor. The new steel shelter will be assembled to the west of the site, in a zone sheltered from radiation, and fitted with equipment geared to future deconstruction operations. After functional checks, the structure will be slid into place, covering over the existing sarcophagus, along two reinforced-concrete, pile-based foundation rails.