Organised by the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, the Project of the Year 2023 awards is an international competition for outstanding underground projects. The EOLE, Link Express East-West project, on which we are acting as project managers, as part of a consortium with Egis and the Duthilleul agency, for SNCF Réseau, has been named winner of the ITA tunnelling and underground space awards, in the “major project of the year” category.
The EOLE project involves extending the RER E line from Haussmann Saint-Lazare station to Nanterre. It consists of 8 km of tunnel, 9 intermediate shafts and two underground stations, one at Porte Maillot and the other at La Défense. It is scheduled to open in April 2024.
On this project, setec tpi is leading a consortium with Egis and the Agence Duthilleul. Our mission included the complete design and construction management (AVP, PRO, ACT, DET, AOR) of the structural work, the architectural and technical finishings of the stations, as well as the track and catenary between the Haussmann St Lazare substation and Nanterre La Folie. Several group subsidiaries (setec tpi, setec bâtiment, setec ferroviaire, terrasol, setec organisation, setec opency, setec als, setec its, setec international) are currently working or have worked at some stage on the project. This is an important project for setec, which has mobilised all entities.
The project is nearing completion, with pre-operations of the tunnel starting on Monday, the 20th of November.
The project was a succession of challenges of all kinds, particularly technical. setec tpi was responsible for creating the underground station at La Défense, including all access tunnels. This involved building an underground station 200 m long, 50 m wide and 20 m high beneath the CNIT shopping centre without disrupting normal services.
The CNIT includes shopping arcades, restaurants, a hotel, service facilities and underground car parks, all spread over 10 levels. Excavation was carried out underneath the car parks, and all structures, weighing around 70,000 t, were held in place by jacks for the duration of two and a half years.
The underground station at Porte Maillot was built from the surface, in a highly restricted environment and in a limited space between metro line 1 and the Palais des Congrès Convention Centre.
The connection to Hausmann Saint-Lazare station was also a technical challenge. The tunnel passes directly under a series of 3 metro lines (14, 12 and 9), that were in service for the duration of the works.
The extension of this underground link will provide numerous benefits for users, who will have a direct link from the east of Paris to the La Défense business district. This project will therefore have a major positive economic and environmental impact. It represents a major challenge for the SNCF, as it is scheduled to open in time for the 2024 Olympic Games.
For the ITA’s Project of the Year 2023 award, EOLE was up against two Chinese projects that are essentially technical: a tunnel that passes under a large river and a water supply tunnel.
The EOLE application had the support of the French government, and the French Minister for Transport, Clément Beaune, who personally concluded the video presentation of the project.
The deliberations for the award of the prize took place in Mumbai on Friday the 24th of November