France, 2017-2021
As part of the Eole project to extend the RER E rail network towards the west, the Bouygues Travaux Publics-led consortium is responsible for building the section linking the town of Courbevoie and the Haussmann Saint-Lazare station and for carrying out the civil works for the Porte Maillot station. Virginie, the largest tunnel boring machine currently operating in Greater Paris, is excavating 6.1 kilometres of tunnel up to depths of 43 metres. Linked to the TBM by a partially elevated muck-removal pipe, the “Base Seine” landing stage houses a sludge treatment unit and enables excavated material to be removed by barge. This temporary logistics platform minimises the impact of works on road traffic by eliminating the need for around 250 trucks to travel through the city every day.