Eiffage Énergie Systèmes mobilises its Hydraulics Technical Department to support Eiffage Génie Civil Réseaux

At Le Havre’s port site, operated by Haropa Port, Eiffage Génie Civil Réseaux is carrying out a major project, constructing a microtunnelling crossing (DN 3,200 mm) over approximately 460 linear metres beneath the Vétillart basin, between Quai de la Gironde and the Chaussée des Gares Maritimes. Using the Aline microtunnelling machine, the structure is to accommodate two pipes (DN 1,200 mm) intended to replace the current Îlet outfall siphon, in service for over a century. This new section, comprising a tunnel, diaphragm wall shafts and above-ground plant rooms (or kiosks), will be connected to the existing sewer on behalf of project owner Le Havre Seine Métropole. The challenge is to ensure wastewater flow continuity, while undertaking sustainable modernisation of an ageing network at an operational port site.

To carry through technical operations at the bottom of the shafts, Eiffage Génie Civil Réseaux called on Eiffage Énergie Systèmes for its expertise, and more specifically on its technical division (Industrial Processes and Engineering), specialising in industrial processes, automation and control systems. “Eiffage Énergie Systèmes’ teams have coordinated several technical aspects essential to the smooth running of the project: pumping operations at the bottom of the shafts to manage seepage, condensation and drainage; ventilation of each shaft, by supplying fresh air and extracting stale air; and the automated control of all these systems,” said hydraulics operations manager Renaud Adell.

This cooperation highlights the value of Eiffage Group's multi-disciplinary model. For the past two years, pumping station specialists Eiffage Génie Civil Hydraulique et Réservoirs have been part of Eiffage Énergie Systèmes’ technical division, thereby strengthening its hydraulic engineering capabilities. “In practice, on this project in Le Havre, Eiffage Énergie Systèmes’ Rouen office —specialising in automation — was initially approached by Eiffage Génie Civil. It was this branch that called on our Nantes Business Unit for its hydraulic expertise,” explained Renaud Adell. This networking of in-house expertise between Eiffage Génie Civil Réseaux and Eiffage Énergie Systèmes (with the support of SBPI as a second-tier subcontractor) shows how cross-divisional synergies can provide a flexible response to the technical requirements of the most complex projects.