Breakthrough by breakthrough, an efficient connection of the surrounding communities to the metro network of the French metropolis is being created.
Grand Paris Express
200 kilometers of track on four new, fully automated subway lines with 68 stations and seven technical centers – the Grand Paris Express is currently the largest infrastructure project in Europe. The metropolitan area of the French capital is getting an additional network of metro lines designed with sustainability in mind, whose main task is connecting the municipalities surrounding the city with each other more efficiently.
Approximately 2 million passengers per day are expected to use the four new lines 15, 16, 17 and 18 as well as the extensions of line 14 South. The project owner "Société du Grand Paris" also expects massive savings in CO2 emissions as well as a major impetus overall for the development of economic strength and the quality of life in the region with around 12 million inhabitants.
Herrenknecht is delivering 21 machines for more than 100 kilometers of metro tunnels.
90 per cent of the new lines being built will run underground. By September 2023 the companies contracted by Société du Grand Paris to carry out the construction have ordered 21 tunnelling machines from Herrenknecht. The 17 EPB Shields and four Multi-mode TBMs (Variable Density TBMs) with diameters between 7.7 meters and 9.8 meters designed specifically for the project are scheduled to bore a total of more than 100 kilometers of tunnel and line them with concrete segments.
The VSM technology shows its potential particularly in inner-city contexts.
Herrenknecht also supplied two Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine (VSM) to build four ventilation and rescue shafts for Line 15 South Lot T3C and four for the Line 17 Lot 1. Mechanized shaft sinking was given preference as the Herrenknecht VSM is superior here to conventional methods both in terms of space constraints as well as environmental requirements. The shafts with diameters between 8.1 and 11.9 meters are being sunk down to depths of up to 53 meters.
The Techni-Métal Systèmes MSV specialists as well as other companies from the Herrenknecht Group support jobsites and tunnel drives in Paris.
Extensive deliveries by companies from the Herrenknecht Group contribute to efficient jobsite logistics and smooth tunnelling in Paris: Techni-Métal Sytèmes multi-service vehicles, H+E conveyor systems, VMT navigation and monitoring systems, Herrenknecht Formwork segment moulds, MSD launch and exit installations as well as tunnelling specialists from Global Tunnelling Experts.
Especially the short distance to residential buildings and other infrastructures pose major challenges to the metro builders.
All of the Group's service competencies are concentrated in a service hub specially set up by Herrenknecht in Emerainville colse to the French capital. Here, solutions are developed in cooperation with the project management in Schwanau and for all project phases to the challenges associated to the large number of tunnel drives in an inner-city environment.
Project managers and TBM operators, mechanics and technicians, fitters and welders as well as electricians and PLC specialists are providing manifold and competent support from Emerainville. Also, the provision of spear and wear parts for the jobsites is operated form here. Close to 1,400 m² of storage space are available to this end.
Additional information about Europe's largest infrastructure project: Société du Grand Paris
The Herrenknecht service hub for the support of the Grand Paris Express tunnel drives.
Project Highlights
| Column 0 | Column 1 |
|---|---|
| Project | Grand Paris Express |
| Client | Société du Grand Paris |
| Contractor | BAM BessacBouygues Travaux Publics Demathieu Bard Eiffage GC Ferrovial Implenia NGE / NGE GC Pizzarotti Razel-Bec Soletanche Bachy France / Soletanche Bachy Tunnels Spie Batignolles Vinci Construction Webuild |
| Geology | Soft and heterogeneous ground: Sand, marl, limestone, clay, chalk, alluvium, gravel, gipsum, debris |
| Tunnelling length |
approx. 105,000m |
| Machine data |
17 x EPB Shield: Diameter: 7,725mm – 9,830mm 4 x Variable Density TBM: Inner Diameter: 7,710mm – 9,830mm 2 x Vertical Shaft Sinking Machine (VSM): Diameter: 8,100mm – 11,900mm |
We are ready!