As part of the construction of the 57.5 km tunnel that will connect Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (France) and Susa (Italy), the owner Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin (TELT) has awarded the contract for works package 2 to a consortium* led by VINCI Construction Grands Projets.
This €1.43 billion contract covers a 23 km section of twin tube tunnel between Saint-Martin-la-Porte and Modane, in Savoie (France). The works involve digging 25 km of tunnel using three tunnel boring machines and 21 km of tunnel using conventional methods, and creating 71 safety tunnels and several galleries. The project will last over five years and employ up to 1,650 people.
VINCI Construction’s teams have been active on the Lyon–Turin rail line since September 2020, handling the preparatory work on the Avrieux shafts, perpendicular to the future safety site at Modane.
The Lyon–Turin rail line is part of a programme designed to expand trade in Europe upgrade passenger travel. It is setting in motion a sustainable transition in transport by shifting long-distance freight from roads to rail lines. By 2030, it will replace 1 million heavy vehicles on Alpine roads and lower greenhouse gas emissions by about 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
VINCI Construction is applying its expertise in underground works in several countries, in particular through public transport projects. VINCI Construction subsidiaries are for instance working on several rail transport systems in the United Kingdom (High Speed 2), Ottawa (new Light Rail Transport system), Paris (several works packages for the Grand Paris Express), Doha (Lusail Light Rail Transport and metro Red Line South), New Zealand (Auckland’s City Rail Link), Hong Kong and Singapore (Thomson line).
*VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead), Dodin Campenon Bernard and VINCI Construction France, subsidiaries of VINCI Construction (50%), and the Italian construction company Webuild.
Entrepose Contracting, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Taylor Woodrow, all VINCI Construction subsidiaries, have been awarded an EPC* contract by National Grid to construct a 190,000 m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank in the United Kingdom.
This project is part of the programme to expand the capacity of the largest LNG terminal in Europe, located on the Isle of Grain – east coast of England, 60 km from London.
This full containment tank has a 9% nickel steel inner tank with a pre-stressed concrete outer shell, poured in-situ using slipforming. The works, for a budget of €200 million, are set to continue until June 2025.
VINCI has already built about 20 LNG tanks worldwide over the past 15 years, including three which are still under construction: two in Russia (160,000 m3 each) and one in Canada (225,000 m3). The Group is recognised for its capacity to meet the expectations of major players in the sector and confirms its leading position in the design-build of large-scale cryogenic storage tanks in any type of environment.
* Engineering, Procurement and Construction
Société du Grand Paris awarded the consortium of companies* led by VINCI Construction the contract to build the viaduct for metro line 18 of the Grand Paris Express – the largest urban mobility project currently under way in Europe.
Worth €193 million, 20% of which will go to SMEs, the contract covers all the civil engineering work on this 6.7 km engineering structure, with the voussoirs being precast locally. The viaduct will be located towards the middle of line 18, a metro line that will connect ten stations between Orly airport and Versailles. The contract will contribute to the development of the Plateau de Saclay, a centre of excellence that is home to a cluster of research labs, university campuses and higher education establishments.
The project will employ 400 people at its peak and the equivalent of 10 full-time jobs will be created for people in back-to-work programmes over the 30-month project. VINCI will also mobilise its endowment fund, Chantiers & Territoires Solidaires, which supports employment and community initiatives located near Grand Paris Express worksites.
Work on the first section of line 18 has begun and is being carried out by another consortium also led by VINCI Construction. Furthermore, the VINCI Group is involved in other works packages of the Grand Paris Express, combining the expertise of and synergies between its subsidiaries: VINCI Construction for underground works, Eurovia for urban development and railway works, and VINCI Energies for information technology, data and electrical engineering.
*The consortium is composed of VINCI Construction Grands Projets, lead company, Dodin Campenon Bernard, Chantiers Modernes Construction and Freyssinet, subsidiaries of VINCI Construction, and Razel-Bec, subsidiary of the Fayat Group.
The consortium* led by VINCI Construction signed a contract with the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation (which involves The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal) to build the Sambangalou dam located in the south-east of Senegal, close to the Guinean border. The €388 million contract follows on from an initial phase conducting studies and preparatory work, which took place over a period of 18 months.
The 91 m high dam will have a capacity of 128 MW, generating renewable energy, improving irrigation of farm land and supplying drinking water for surrounding districts. The work will begin in the first half of 2021 and is scheduled to last 48 months. At its peak, the project will employ 1,000 people recruited and trained locally.
Moreover, once the project has been delivered, the drinking water treatment station set up for the project will be remain in operation. The worksite buildings will be donated to schools. Furthermore, engineers from the consortium will be involved in classes at the Kédougou technical high school.
The electricity generated by the dam will be injected into the grid of the four countries of the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation, where VINCI Energies is installing several hundred kilometres of high voltage lines.
The new contract is testament to the Group’s expertise in hydroelectric infrastructure and renewable energies to boost sustainable regional development.
*The consortium is composed of VINCI Construction Grands Projets, lead company, and VINCI Construction Terrassement, subsidiaries of VINCI Construction (75% of the consortium), and their partner Andritz, an Austrian turbine manufacturer, which (25% of the consortium).
The Link Alliance, including VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead company) and Soletanche Bachy International, subsidiaries of VINCI Construction, and their partner Downer, plus designers Aecom, WSP-Opus and Tonkin & Taylor – signed on 20 October 2020 the contract for lots 5 and 7 for the City Rail Link programme in Auckland, New Zealand.
Lot C5 includes the construction of two structures (grade-separated junctions) and 2 km of new track, to be constructed while maintaining traffic on the North Auckland Line.
Lot C7 includes installation of power supply, overhead lines, signalling and the control system for the entire City Rail Link.
These contracts follow on from the contract for lot 3 won in July 2019 by the same consortium, covering design/construction of a 3.45 km railway line extension, including 3.2 km of tunnel and three new stations.
The contracts are of the “Alliance” type, which combines the designer-builder consortium and the client – City Rail Link Limited – into a single team to undertake the project. Delivery of all three lots (3, 5 and 7) is scheduled for 2024.
At a total cost of 4.419 billion New Zealand dollars (2.586 billion euros), the City Rail Link project will double the number of people able to reach Auckland’s city centre within 30 minutes. This new train line is designed to accommodate 54,000 passengers per hour during peak hours, or the equivalent capacity of two motorways with four lanes in each direction.
This project illustrates VINCI Construction’s ability to support large urban centres in successfully delivering their urban mobility projects, as it is doing in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar, USA and Canada.
The owner, TELT (Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin), has awarded works package 5A of the Lyon–Turin rail line to a consortium* led by VINCI Construction Grands Projets. The works package involves preparatory work perpendicular to the future safety site at Modane, near the midpoint of the 57.5-kilometre base tunnel that will connect the international stations in Saint Jean de Maurienne (France) and Susa (Italy).
The €220 million contract for works package 5A involves construction of the four 500-metre-deep Avrieux shafts using raise-boring machines (mechanical excavators operating from the base of the future shafts). This technique optimises work safety, costs and time. The work also involves digging galleries and seven caverns, using conventional methods (explosives), at the foot of the existing Villarodin Bourget–Modane decline, which is up to 22 metres high and 23 metres wide.
The project will employ up to 250 people over the coming 36 months.
The Lyon–Turin line is part of a programme designed to upgrade passenger travel and expand trade in Europe. It is setting in motion a transition that will make transport more sustainable by shifting long-distance freight from roads to rail lines. By 2030, the Lyon–Turin rail line will replace 1 million heavy vehicles on Alpine roads and lower greenhouse gas emissions by about 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
VINCI Construction is applying its expertise in underground works in several countries, notably on public transport projects aimed at fostering sustainable development in host cities and regions. VINCI Construction subsidiaries are working on several rail transport systems in the United Kingdom (HS2), Ottawa (new LRT system), France (several Grand Paris Express projects), Doha (two metro and LRT lines), New Zealand (Auckland’s City Rail Link), Hong Kong and Singapore (Thomson Line).
*The consortium encompasses VINCI Construction subsidiaries VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead), Dodin Campenon Bernard and VINCI Construction France (65%), alongside Webuild (33%) and Bergteamet (2%).
Société du Grand Paris has awarded the construction contract for works package 1 of Line 18 of Grand Paris Express, the biggest urban mobility programme currently under way in Europe, to the joint venture* led by VINCI Construction Grands Projets. This first section will link Orly airport to Massy-Palaiseau; Line 18 will then be extended to Versailles.
Worth €799 million, of which 20% reserved for SMEs, the contract calls for digging 11.8 km of tunnels using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and building three stations (Antonypôle, Massy Opéra and Massy-Palaiseau), 13 ancillary engineering structures 10 branches connecting with the tunnel, and 850 metres of cut and cover. In total, more than 1 million cubic metres of material will be excavated.
At its peak, the contract will employ up to 700 people (500 labourers and 200 supervisory staff). Over the 83-month duration of the worksite, it will also create the equivalent of 148 full-time jobs for people in social integration programmes.
In addition, the VINCI Group has established an endowment fund, Chantiers et Territoires Solidaires, to support non-profit entity initiatives relating to employment and the social fabric of communities located close to Grand Paris Express projects.
As part of the Grand Paris Express programme, the consortium is currently executing, on Line 15 South, the works packages between Fort d’Issy-Vanves-Clamart and Villejuif Louis Aragon, as well as the Noisy-Champs station works package, and is responsible for extending Line 14 South towards Orly. The VINCI Group is also working on other Grand Paris Express works packages through specialist activity subsidiaries of VINCI Construction, Eurovia (for laying rail track) and VINCI Energies.
*The joint venture comprises VINCI Construction Grands Projets, leader, VINCI Construction France, Dodin Campenon Bernard and Botte Fondations, all subsidiaries of VINCI Construction and representing 75% of the joint venture, together with Spie batignolles génie civil and Spie batignolles fondations, both subsidiaries of Spie batignolles and representing 25% of the joint venture.
The 50:50 joint venture between Balfour Beatty and VINCI* has been awarded the HS2 lots N1 and N2 phase 2 contract (construction) on 1 April 2020. Lot N1 and Lot N2 are between the Long Itchington Wood Green tunnel to the Delta Junction / Birmingham Spur and from the Delta Junction to the West Coast Main Line tie-in respectively.
Phase 1 for these contracts had been awarded in July 2017 for the design of the West Midlands area. More than 500 engineers and technicians, including the joint venture’s designers, worked successfully to reach this milestone today and enable the project to switch from design to construction.
Spanning on approximately 90km, the delivery of Lot N1 and Lot N2 will include an impressive number of engineering structures, tunnels and earthworks: 51 viaducts and boxes totalling over 14km and 76 overbridges, 7.5km of twin tunnel, 35 cuttings reaching over 30km, 76 culverts and other underbridges, 66 embankments reaching over 33km, 4 motorway crossings requiring box structures, and 6 interfaces with existing rail requiring both dive-under and overbridge structures. Lots N1 and N2 comprise a total of 1.8 million cubic meters of concrete and 32 million cubic meters of cut and landfill.
Work will start on site in summer 2020 with all the sanitary and safety rules that prevail according to the Covid-19 pandemic and would last 74 months. At the peak of activity, the project will employ 10,000 people.
The contract awards reflect the innovative and collaborative nature of this long-established and successful joint venture. Balfour Beatty’s in-depth knowledge and expertise of British transport is complemented with VINCI’s major project expertise, including the recently completed SEA Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line in France and rail infrastructure projects in the UK.
Balfour Beatty – VINCI teamed up with Systra and Mott MacDonald and was awarded in September 2019 by HS2 the contract for the construction management of Old Oak Common station in London.
*VINCI is represented by its subsidiaries: VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK and VINCI Construction Terrassement.
The health crisis that the world is facing today is exceptionally extensive.
In all the countries where we operate, VINCI Construction Grands Projets is playing its part in efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
Protecting everyone’s health and safety are our absolute priorities. VINCI Construction Grands Projets is therefore strictly applying public authorities’ recommendations.
In countries that have enforced lockdowns, we immediately took measures so that employees who can work from home are able to do so.
We will systematically help our customers and public authorities complete projects considered non-deferrable, in all cases strictly complying with measures to keep our employees and subcontractors safe.
We are mobilised, worldwide, to contribute to efforts to eradicate this pandemic and to work alongside authorities to prepare to move past this health and economic crisis as rapidly as possible.
Together, we will overcome this ordeal. All together, with our employees, customers, partners and subcontractors, we will show that we are able to rebound.
Let’s continue to build on trust.
On 15 November of this year, the joint venture formed by two VINCI Construction subsidiaries, Entrepose Contracting and VINCI Construction Grands Projets, signed an EPC* contract with Novatek subsidiary OOO OBSKY LNG to build two new cryogenic LNG tanks on the Yamal Peninsula.
“We are extremely proud and honoured that Novatek has entrusted this new project to us following the exemplary on-time, on-budget handover of the first four LNG tanks built in Sabetta for Yamal LNG. The new project is recognition of our expertise in the sector, and particularly of our ability to rise to the challenges of innovative projects to be carried out in extreme environments,” says Entreprose Contracting Managing Director Gaël Cailleaux.
“Two years after the handover of the four Yamal tanks, the challenge of designing and building tanks in this area of the world – where temperatures are below freezing eight months out of the year and can reach -50°C in winter – remains unchanged. We are fully mobilised, with the technical and innovation capabilities of our in-house design and engineering offices, to carry out this contract alongside our partners,” says Fadi Selwan, operations Director, Americas and LNG at VINCI Construction Grands Projets.
In July 2019, VINCI Construction won a contract to build an LNG tank in northern British Columbia, Canada. Having built 14 LNG tanks around the world over the past decade, VINCI Construction is widely respected for its ability to meet the expectations of the oil and gas majors in every type of environment.
*Engineering, Procurement and Construction
