News
Events
Sustainable development: the first AFAQ 1000NR evaluation
As part of its integrated Quality-Safety-Environment (QSE) approach,
VINCI Construction Grands Projets has called on AFNOR Certification
Group to carry out an evaluation in accordance with the principles of
1000NR (which outlines new responsibilities in support of sustainable
development). On the four-level rating scale (Commitment, Progress,
Maturity, Benchmark), VINCI Construction Grands Projets is on the
second step of the podium, at the Maturity stage.
11/07/2008
Name of River Forth Bridge finally announced
On October 1, 2008, the bridge on the River Forth at Kincardine in
Scotland was officially named “Clackmannanshire
Bridge.” Clackmannanshire is one of the three Scottish
counties located in the vicinity of the bridge. Scotland’s
Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, Stewart
Stevenson, launched a public consultation in January 2008 calling on
people to put forward their suggestions for a name. Road signs are
currently being installed in the area around the new bridge.
10/28/2008
Cairo subway: baptism of the Cleopatra TBM
The baptism ceremony for the Cleopatra Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was held on September 3,
2008. The event was attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nasif,
Minister of Transportation Mohamed Mansour and representatives of the
client, the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT). The ceremony took
place at the launch pit (see photo). Lead contractor VINCI Construction
Grands Projets (28.5%) is currently fulfilling the civil engineering
mandate for Phase 1 on Line 3 of the Cairo subway in conjunction with
Arab Contractors, Bouygues and Orascom.
09/23/2008
Launch of the final segment of the Trinidad-and-Tobago interchange
The 10th and final segment of the frame was launched on August 26, with
each segmental launch corresponding to the installation of a single
bridge span requiring approximately 4 hours. The steel frame, which is
the main combined structure in the interchange, weighs a total of 2,500
tonnes and is 600 metres long and 16 metres wide. It was pushed into
place onto the southern abutment using two hydraulic jacks, with the
capacity to push 140 tonnes each, anchored to concrete beams. Many
notable figures were in attendance for the event, including Works and
Transport Minister Colm Imbert and Kaisha Ince, President of NIDCO
(National Infrastructure Development Company), the client.
09/12/2008
Focus on bridge pre-construction at the CBDG annual meeting
The Concrete Bridge Development Group (CBDG) invited William Paschetta,
Chief Design Engineer with VINCI Construction Grands Projets, to its
annual meeting in Oxford on June 25th to deliver a presentation on current bridge pre-construction methods. CBDG is a British association of builders and organizations in the concrete industry whose mission is to promote concrete bridge-building and related training initiatives and to identify future Research & Development needs.
07/07/2008
Major Projects Conference:
carbon-offset initiative
This past April, as part of VINCI Construction’s Major Projects
Conference, 200 staff members met in the Sultanate of Oman where VINCI
Construction Grands Projets is currently building the Wadi Dayqah dams. In accordance with its sustainable development policy, VINCI Construction Grands Projets has decided to offset the carbon emissions of its flights between Paris and Muscat.
06/18/2008
Lionel Linger, engineer and concrete specialist, has been awarded the AFGC prize
On March 20, 2008, Lionel Linger, an engineer and concrete specialist
with VINCI Construction Grands Projets, received the AFGC prize. The
prize, awarded by the Association Française de Génie Civil (AFGC), recognizes engineers, researchers, and
academics for outstanding work in a scientific, technical or
operational field.
05/21/2008
Partner satisfaction study carried out by IFOP
At the end of 2007, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, in conjunction
with the polling firm, IFOP, carried out a satisfaction study among its
856 partners. The participation rate was 58% (or 498 respondents), 4 percent higher than for the study conducted in 2005. On April
28, 2008, the study’s results were sent by Pierre Berger,
President of VINCI Construction Grands Projets, to all of the
company’s partners.
05/16/2008
Shareholders visit the A19 worksite
On March 18, 2008, during their visit to the A19 worksite, shareholders
discovered various aspects of the project: the viaduct on the Loing,
passageways for wildlife, excavation machinery at work on a highway
segment, and operations at the asphalt-production plant. Shareholder
visits, which are quite numerous throughout the year, are an
opportunity to hold regional meetings with member of the VINCI
shareholders club and acquaint them with the Group’s latest
projects and achievements.
04/10/2008
FASEP contract in Istanbul: intermediary report submitted with Hervé Novelli in attendance
On February 18, 2008, WMI (Water Management International, a subsidiary
of VINCI Construction Grands Projets) submitted its intermediary report
to the water-management authorities of Istanbul on the occasion of the
visit by Hervé Novelli, then France’s secretary of
state for business and external trade, accompanied by a delegation of
business people. Also attending the event were the Mayor of
Istanbul and the Ambassador of France to Turkey. This contract is an
opportunity for WMI to demonstrate its extensive expertise and ability
to deliver positive results in the upgrade of the drinking-water
network in the target zone, namely, the Sultanahmet sector of the city.
04/03/2008
2008 ENSAM FORUM
Innovative participation at the forum des Arts et Métiers,
held on March 26 and 27, 2008 at Parc Floral in Paris VINCI Construction Grands Projets took part in the 28th edition of the
ENSAM forum. The company’s kiosk, which brought together all
of the Group’s subsidiaries, included an innovative feature:
a video-recruitment studio. This is a first!
04/02/2008
Budapest metro: the “Zsuzsa” TBM arrives at Bocskai station
On Friday, March 7, the tunnel-boring machine (TBM)
“Zsuzsa” made its arrival at the Bocskai station on
what will be Line 4 of the Budapest metro system in Hungary. A ceremony
was held to celebrate the event, with the mayor of Budapest,
Gábor Demszky, in attendance. “Zsuzsa”
began operations in May 2007. To date, 2,200 m have been excavated. A
second TBM is scheduled to arrive in four weeks.
03/28/2008
Baptism of the “Rainier” TBM at the Brightwater tunnel site
On February 13, five months after the baptism of
“Helen,” the team at the Brightwater site
celebrated the baptism of “Rainier,” the second
tunnel-boring machine (TBM). During this event, at which the TBM was
powered up for the first time, project director Lionel Suquet paid
tribute to the teams for the work accomplished in the previous months:
over 300 m excavated to date and a ring-assembly pace as high as eight
per day.
03/26/2008
Heathrow’s Terminal 5 gets a royal inauguration
On March 14, the Queen of England officially inaugurated Heathrow
Airport’s new Terminal 5, which is due to open to the public
on March 27. VINCI Construction Grands Projets, in a joint venture with
its longstanding partner in the United Kingdom, Morgan Est, built all
seven railway and road tunnels needed to link the new structure to the
four existing terminals.
03/21/2008
“National Science and Engineering Week”: introduction to civil engineering in Kincardine
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), a London-based British
association of civil engineers, regularly holds an event known as
“Bridges to Schools,” which aims to promote the
civil engineering profession to schoolchildren. This year, the event is
held from March 10 to 20 in partnership with work teams at the
Kincardine bridge construction site.
03/14/2008
A first for the island of Trinidad: launching a bridge without disrupting traffic
On February 18, 2008, Colm Imbert, the Minister of Construction and
Transport for Trinidad and Tobago, attended the launch of the main
bridge of the CRH/UBH interchange. The launch, which took place almost
two weeks ahead of schedule, was carried out without traffic
interruption. The deck located between the first and second piers was
shifted into position, thereby providing a bridge over the 3-lane
Churchill Roosevelt motorway connecting Port of Spain with the eastern
end of the island.
02/27/2008
“Team Grands Projets”: custom training for managing major projects
After 15 months of studies and cooperation, VINCI Construction Grands
Projects will be launching its management of major projects training
course, baptised "Team Grands Projets" in the first quarter of 2008.
02/25/2008
Last incrementally launched span for the Kincardine Bridge
On February 20, the Morgan Est/VINCI Construction Grands Projets joint
venture launched the last span of the Upper Forth Crossing at
Kincardine, which crosses the River Forth in central Scotland.
02/20/2008
Recognition for the motorised rescue chamber at the VINCI 2007 Innovation Awards
The judges’ panel, made up of members of the Executive and
external guests, expressed its appreciation of the investment made to
forestall risk in all its forms. The rescue chamber ensures security
for 20 people from smoke and toxic gas in case of fire in a tunnel,
allowing them to maintain contact with rescue teams outside. This tool
was created by VINCI Construction Grands Projets teams as part of the
works for the Hallandsås railway tunnels in Sweden.
02/18/2008
Visit by President Mubarak to the Naga Hammadi dam in Egypt
On this eagerly awaited visit on January 12, Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak was accompanied by the Minister of Irrigation and Water
Resources and the Minister of Electricity. The President was pleased to
see the progress at the worksite; provisional acceptance is set for end
of May 2008.
02/12/2008
Folding fusegates recognized at the EDF’s Sustainable Development Awards
Awarded last January 16 in the “Climate and Energy”
category, this prize recognizes Edison – a Hydroplus (VINCI
Construction Grands Projets) external partner – for its
commitment to research and development. Fully aware of the growing
interest in folding fusegates, Edison (an EDF subsidiary in Italy) has
decided to promote this innovative technology and entered it in the
EDF’s contest on sustainable development. Folding fusegates,
which are a patent-protected technology, are developed and marketed by
Hydroplus.
02/08/2008
Safety first: exemplary results at the Goro Nickel worksite
With 5.4 million hours of work carried out without a single accident
and no resulting downtime, the Goro Nickel processing facility
treatment plant worksite in New Caledonia, for which VINCI Construction
Grands Projets is handling civil engineering, is an eloquent
testimonial of the tireless efforts deployed in the area of safety and
of the success of these efforts.
02/01/2008
Stade de France celebrates its 10th anniversary!
On January 28th, Stade de France invited some 800 people who saw the
stadium in a brilliant new light. To celebrate this event, several
promotional ventures have been launched: 2008 invitations will be sent to each future event held in that year. The tickets will be sold at a €10 price for 10 different events at the stadium, with plenty of prizes for spectators (candlelit dinner on the stadium field, a free one-year subscription…).
01/31/2008
Open-house day at the Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine
On November 28, 2007, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and partner
Morgan Est organized an open-house day at the Upper Forth Crossing at
Kincardine worksite in Scotland.
01/18/2008
Brightwater: baptism of the tunnel boring machines
On September 12, 2007, one of the two VINCI Construction Grands Projets
tunnel borers boring machines (TBMs) at the Brightwater site in the
U.S. was baptized.
11/27/2007
Felicia opens its doors
The Felicia shopping centre in Iasi, Romania, developed by Soconac, got
its official public opening on October 10, 2007. In attendance for the
ceremony were Florence Dobelle, economic consultant at the Embassy of
France in Romania, and representatives from VINCI Construction Grands
Projets and from Carrefour.
11/27/2007
Duplex A86 in France: light at the end of the tunnel
Excavation of the second segment for Duplex A86 linking Pont Colbert
(in Jouy-en-Josas) to highway A13 (Vaucresson-Le Chesnay) over a
distance of 5.5 kilometres was completed on Thursday, August 23, 2007
with the tunnel borer’s spectacular exit at the A13
interchange.
08/23/2007
Inauguration in Libya
On August 19, 2007, VINCI Construction Grands Projets teams inaugurated
the Al Gardabiya and Assdada pumping stations on the Libyan coast; in
attendance were Saif El-Islam Ghadafi (son of Colonel Moammar Ghadafi),
Libya’s pPPrime MmMinister El-Baghdadi El-Mahmoudi, Abdul
Majeed El-Gaoud, secretary of the people’s committee for the
GMRA (Great Man-Made River Authority), and Yves Thibault de Silguy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VINCI.
08/19/2007
Delivery of dam upgrade project in Jindabyne, Australia
Hydroplus successfully upgraded the Jindabyne dam in New South Wales
for a total of €4.8 million, including design and
construction.
03/21/2007