Doha, Rennes, Hong Kong and more: VINCI, a world specialist in metro infrastructure

Copyright VINCI 2013

2 October 2013 - Events

All over the world, growing needs for mobility in cities undergoing development are leading to transport systems being adapted or ambitious programmes such as the Greater London or Grand Paris (Greater Paris) projects. The outlook for growth in the market for building and modernising metro lines is therefore strong and VINCI companies have internationally recognised expertise.

VINCI is currently one of the few integrated players capable of supporting public authorities in this type of project by contributing to various aspects including civil engineering, electromechanical equipment, the central IT systems that make up the metro’s central command centre, lighting, fire protection, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), power supply and the development of stations on the surface.

The arrival of a new type of tunnel boring machine (TBM) in the 1980s marked a major change in underground works in France. The bentonite slurry* technique theoretically opened the way for TBMs to operate in all kinds of ground. In 1982, the use of a bentonite slurry TBM for the Lyon metro under the rivers Rhône and Saône – a first – was the opportunity for Campenon Bernard (VINCI Construction), specialising in underground works, to gain experience in this technique. It took less than nine months to drive the second tunnel while the first tunnel, running absolutely parallel to it, required 20.5 months of adjustments and effort. This success earned Campenon Bernard’s miners a good reputation and led to the company being asked to execute major projects and perform support assignments all over the world. As a result, its name is associated with such projects as the Cairo and Athens metro systems, the Villejust and Storebaelt rail tunnels, the Lesotho hydropower tunnels and the Channel Tunnel.

For over 20 years, VINCI Group companies have been contributing to the development of rail transport in all four corners of the globe. Examples of metro system include Marseille, Toulouse, Lille, Lyon and Paris (France), Caracas (Venezuela), Budapest (Hungary), Algiers (Algeria), Athens (Greece), Cairo (Egypt), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Hong Kong (China), and Doha and Lusail (Qatar).

* Slurry based on bentonite (a fine colloidal clay) has thixotropic properties, i.e. it is liquid when agitated but viscous under normal conditions. The slurry is injected through the cutter head to consolidate the ground as the TBM moves forward.

In 2013, the anniversary of the first metro built in London in 1863, there is an abundance of news about VINCI company involvement in metro projects:

Crossrail: new contract for Whitechapel construction

As part of the Crossrail project, which will cross London from east to west in 2018, the BBMV consortium that includes VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK and Bachy Soletanche Ltd, a subsidiary of Soletanche Freyssinet (VINCI Construction), is building Whitechapel Station.

The consortium has been awarded the partial demolition of the existing station and the construction of the new station, together with a new ticket hall. The contract also includes the shafts, internal structures, a walkway and platforms for the Crossrail tunnels, as well as related architecture and mechanical and electrical infrastructure. The works started in February 2012 and will take six years to complete. In January 2011, the same consortium won the contract to build the tunnels for Liverpool Street and Whitechapel Stations as part of the Crossrail express link project.

Diaphragm wall for Kuala Lumpur metro in Malaysia

BSG Construction Malaysia, a Soletanche Freyssinet subsidiary (VINCI Construction), has won a new contract for the Blue Line of Kuala Lumpur’s metro.

The contract calls for the construction of an 18,350 sq. metre diaphragm wall, some of which will be 54 metres deep, as well as 27 foundation barrettes along Jalan Bukit Bintang, one of the city’s busiest streets. By the second half of 2012, BSG Construction Malaysia had completed 13,200 sq. metres of the diaphragm wall for KL Sentral Station on the same line.

Design-build of Red Line South of the Doha metro in Qatar

The consortium led by QDVC, a subsidiary owned 51% by Qatari Diar and 49% by VINCI Construction Grands Projets, and including Qatari company Al-Darwish Engineering and Korea’s GS Engineering and Contracting, has been named successful bidder by Qatar Rail for the southern works package on the Red Line of Doha’s metro system.

The contract, worth about €1.5 billion, covers the design-build of a 13.8 km twin-bore tunnel between Dohar airport and the Msheireb district, the historical centre of Qatar’s capital. It also includes the design and construction of six underground stations, as well as 51 inter-tube safety connections and three emergency evacuation shafts. Up to 3,000 people will contribute to the works, which will last five years.

Final tube for the Cairo metro in Egypt

On 31 May 2013, VINCI Construction Grands Projets completed the final section of the Line 3 tunnel in Phase 2 of the Cairo metro project.

This 1,356 metre section between Al Ahram Station and Haroun Station was driven by the Imothep tunnel boring machine in three months, advancing an average of 17 metres a day. The TBM will remain below ground until excavation of Haroun Station is completed. Commissioning of Phase 2 to Haroun station (7.2 km of tunnel and five stations) is scheduled for September 2014.

The next steps are the awards of Phases 3 and 4 of Line 3 which, once completed, will cross the Egyptian capital from east to west, from the airport to districts on the western bank of the Nile.

The VINCI Group executed Lines 1 and 2 of the Cairo metro system, as well as Phase 1 of Line 3, which came into service on 21 February 2012.

13 km of viaducts for a metro line in Vietnam

As a member of a consortium, Soletanche Freyssinet subsidiary Freyssinet (VINCI Construction) signed a contract to build 13 km of viaducts using prefabricated sections for Line 1 of Ho Chi Minh City’s new metro system on 17 July 2013.

Built as part of the development of the city’s public transport and infrastructure, Line 1 will link Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Park in District 9. This is Vietnam’s first urban metro project.

Freyssinet is in charge of the prefabrication and transport of 4,565 sections, each weighing around 40 tonnes. Three launchers will be used to install the 363 spans. Up to 500 people will participate the works, with delivery scheduled for January 2016.