News from France

11/11/2022

Since the end of October 2021, we have started deliveries for the Butte Mortemart & Lac Superieur tunnel project (BMLS). These two tunnels are part of the famous Paris Boulevard Périphérique. This name alone suggests that closing this tunnel is no easy task. The average speed in 2017 was still 35.5 km/h, one of the busiest traffic arteries in Europe. If you then know in addition that the stadium of Paris Saint-Germain (evening games champions league), the hippodrome and Roland Garros are located a few hundred meters away, then you know that it will be a logistical challenge to manage such a construction site.

The decision was made to close the tunnel only a few nights per month and only one lane permanently. These sporadic closures require very large peaks in manpower and execution.

We are supplying approximately 45 000m² of PROMATECT®-H type RWS/HCM 25mm. With Tractebel engineering, who prepared the project, we were also able to carry out the Courcelles Tunnel in 2019. Regional tunnel manager Bernard Boeckx was able to maintain this good relationship, which led us to issue the first technical advice for this project in 2019. The total contract sum for the entire project (ventilation, lighting, signaling, etc.) is 185 million euros. The project is more than halfway through, and we are still expecting deliveries until 01/2023.

Since there are almost no storage possibilities on the site and there are very large peaks in terms of required material, our ADV France department (customer service) and intercompany Belgium have to work very closely together for optimal planning. For this, a weekly consultation between the different departments is of vital importance. Our production unit in Kapelle-op-den-Bos also had to make an extra effort (especially at the start) because the time between receiving the order and the first delivery was extremely short. We thank all departments involved for their contribution to this project! Paris is a little bit more fire-safe again thanks to Promat.