Cleaning up New York’s water
Nicholson Construction and Soletanche Bachy International, two VINCI Construction subsidiaries, are active on the Gowanus Owls Head Canal sewage disposal project in New York.
Located in Brooklyn, the canal was built a century and a half ago. Originally a marshland creek, the waterway was developed into an industrial canal, which became polluted owing to the discharge of raw sewage and industrial waste. In an effort to remedy the situation, the canal was included in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund programme. The initiative is part of a broader endeavour to restore the quality of water in New York. Nicholson Construction and Soletanche Bachy International have been tasked with constructing a 20,000 sq. metre diaphragm wall to facilitate the installation of an underground combined sewer overflow tank capable of intercepting and storing up to 15 million cu. metres of wastewater. The wall will provide support for the excavation and a groundwater cutoff, mitigating the risks associated with contaminants present on the site and preventing untreated wastewater from flowing directly into the canal during heavy rainfall.
This project shares similarities with other VINCI Construction projects around the world, such as the Thames Tideway Tunnel in the United Kingdom, the first connections of which became operational in 2024. Dubbed “London’s super sewer”, the project aims to improve and preserve the waters of the Thames by storing and transferring wastewater and stormwater to prevent it from flowing into the river during heavy rain.
In France, a consortium including VINCI Construction built the Austerlitz overflow tank in Paris. The supersize structure (50 metres in diameter, 46,000 cu. metres of capacity) was handed over ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Its purpose is to durably improve the quality of the Seine’s water, by temporarily storing excess rainwater during heavy rainfall and gradually channelling it into the sewer system.
“Working with the Nicholson/ Soletanche Bachy team has been a great experience. Their attention to detail and safety is evident in the way they carry out their work. The relationship that developed between Posillico and Nicholson/ Soletanche Bachy is more of a partnership than a traditional contractor-subcontractor relationship, and this enabled us to overcome the challenges of the project.”