Once the Lyon–Turin rail line opens to traffic, the number of heavy vehicles on the Alps’ roads will drop by about one million, lowering annual greenhouse gas emissions commensurately
Major Projects
— Business activity reached an all-time-high level (€2.5 billion, up 19.9%) in 2021.
The several large projects handed over in France included: the new Strasbourg bypass (A355) for VINCI Autoroutes in Alsace; the civil engineering works on the tokamak complex for the ITER international research project (which will carry out experiments in fusion power); and the viaduct for the New Coastal Highway, the longest sea viaduct in France (5,400 metres), and a bridge over the Saint-Denis river, both on Reunion Island.
Order intake remained steady. New orders in France included works package 2 for the tunnel on the future Euralpin Lyon–Turin rail line (a 23 km section in Savoie), following on from the preparatory work on the Avrieux shafts (four 500metre deep ventilation ducts) currently under way. In the United Kingdom they included replacement of a 97 km pipeline supplying Heathrow Airport (The Southampton to London Pipeline Project) and construction of a liquefied natural gas tank on the Isle of Grain. In Germany they included the new B247 federal road under a public-private partnership contract awarded to VINCI Highways (see page 62). New orders in 2021 amounted to a total of €2.9 billion and the current major projects cycle will continue for several years.
The bulk of the work in 2021, however, was on large projects under way on all continents.
- ◗ In France: several ongoing works packages for the Grand Paris Express (Line 15 South sections T3C and T2D; Line 14 works package GC02; several Line 18 works packages), all involving Major Projects Division and Proximity Networks teams. On Line 15 South section T3C alone, as many as 1,000 employees were involved in building the 8 km of tunnels, six stations and eight 40 to 50 metre deep shafts.
- ◗ In the United Kingdom: the High Speed 2 (HS2) line, one of the biggest projects this decade. The consortium encompassing VINCI Construction and Balfour Beatty is working on the main civil engineering works packages (N1 and N2) and on the future Old Oak Common station in north-west London. It has also pledged to reduce the carbon footprint of construction work on this new infrastructure asset by 50% compared to standard practice. Also in the United Kingdom, work continued on Smart Motorway M4 and the East London works package of Thames Tideway, a vast programme to extend the system to transfer and store the city’s wastewater and stormwater.
- ◗ In the Netherlands: the RijnlandRoute between the cities of Katwijk and Leiden, which includes building a new 4 km roadway, including a 2.2 km tunnel, and widening 12 km of motorway.
50%
reduction in carbon footprint compared to standard practice: the promise on the construction of the HS2 high-speed rail line in the United Kingdom.