Soils Structures - FREYSSINET

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REINFORCED EARTHThe saga of a veryconstructive idea

THE FREYSSINET GROUP MAGAZINE&StructuresSoils

FOCUS THREE ACQUISITIONS TO REINFORCETHE GROUP’S OFFER

REALIZATIONS PONT A.B. RAVENEL JR: TWO FIRSTS IN THE NEW WOLD

HISTORY DYNAMIC COMPACTION: A PRINCIPLE CONSOLIDATED BY INNOVATION

2 Soils & Structures First half 2005

P A N O R A M A

CONTENTSPANORAMAACTIVITY AND LIFE IN THE GROUP THE WORLD IN BRIEF 2

CLOSE-UPTHE GREAT WALL OF SEYDHISFJÖRDHUR 6

FOCUSTHREE ACQUISITIONS TO REINFORCE THE GROUP’S OFFER 8

REPORTREINFORCED EARTHThe saga of a very constructive idea

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REALIZATIONSARTHUR B. RAVENEL JR BRIDGE (UNITED STATES) 16

BONO BRIDGE (FRANCE) 18

M7 MOTORWAY(HUNGARY) 19

JEBEL ALI SILOS(UNITED ARAB EMIRATES) 20

NORTH KIAMA ROAD(AUSTRALIA) 21

SUNGAI PRAI BRIDGE(MALAYSIA) 22

ESSO GLEN COMPLEX (UNITED KINGDOM) 23

THE GUIPÚZCOA GREEN BELT(SPAIN) 23

PLOCK BRIDGE(POLAND) 24

THE ORAN INTERCHANGE(ALGÉRIE) 25

GERRARDS CROSS PLATFORM(UNITED KINGDOM) 26

OUR PROFESSIONA PROTECTIVE CURRENT TO STOP CORROSION 27

COMPANYFREYSSINET POLSKA: CONFIRMS ITSBREAKTHROUGH 28

INNOVATIONTHE PARA-SEISMIC DEVIATOR (PSD) 29

HISTORYDYNAMIC COMPACTION:A PRINCIPLE CONSOLIDATED BY INNOVATION

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A footbridge that was entirely studied and built by Freyssinet crossesthe Meurthe and links the local communities of Nancy and Tomblaine in the Meurthe-et-Moselle region of France. Opened in spring, the bridgehas a 250m long deck supported by 16 stay cables and completed with four retaining stay cables.

16 stay cables on the Meurthe river

Inspired wallsIn the United States, Rein-forced Earth has created a set of tiered Reinforced Earthwalls to retain small reliefsalong a national highwaythat is being extended to thenorth of Santa Fe. Preferred by the New Mexico Depart-ment of Transportation

to one long single wall, this configuration proposed as analternative has undergone careful architectural thought andeach structure is decorated with inspired motifs of fauna orIndian art of the region design of each structure in our designoffices at Hornsby, the building of these elements at Lithgowor in other factories, and then their delivery to the site.”

Award During its convention held inTampa (USA) last November, the American Segmental BridgeInstitute (ASBI) gave its 2004Award to Jean-Philippe Fuzier for“outstanding career contributionsto construction technology for segmental and cable-stayedconcrete bridges”. Now aconsultant, Jean-Philippe Fuzier was Scientific Director of the Freyssinet Group from 1993 to 2002.

New methods across the PyreneesIn north-east Spain, the Cantabrian highway goes along a viaduct 848 m long between Vegarrozadas and Soto del Barco. Built by Necso, this structure is made up of ten 74 m spans and two 50 m end spans. Its deck is made up of a box girder that was cast in situ and is 11 m wide with a constant height of 3.75 m, post-tensioned(582 t of steel). Two precast 8 m abutments were fixed on both sides with 736 Freyssibar prestressing bars, 40 mm in diameter, with an average length of 10 m. Supplied and installed by Freyssinet SA, this new method (see s&s no. 219) was used for the first time in Spain.

First half 2005 Soils & Structures 3

Currently the largest motorway project in Australia,the Westlink M7, to be opened at the end of 2006,will link the outskirts west of Sydney to existingmotorway networks. Launched as a BOT project andassigned to the AbiGroup-Leighton (ALJV) joint-ven-ture, this project aims at building 40 km of roadway,17 interchanges, 38 overhead crossings and under-passes and 146 bridges. The Australian subsidiaryof the Group, Reinforced Earth, has obtained a con-tract to design and build 10,800 m2 of ReinforcedEarth wall on more than 18 structures.Ronel Suthers, marketing co-ordinator of ReinforcedEarth comments: “Our challenge has been to masterthe co-ordination of the design of each structure inour design offices at Hornsby, the manufacture ofelements at Lithgow or in other factories, and thentheir delivery on site.”

10 800of Reinforced Earthon the Westlink M7

squaremetres

Strong foundation for wastewatertreatment plantAfter three months of work, Ménard Soltraitementhas completed the soil improvement work for the future San Martin de la Vega wastewater treatment plant, one of the largest in the region of Madrid (Spain). The loamy-sand soil was not dense enough for the foundation of the structure, and consequently Ménard Soltraitement’s teams had to treat 130,000 m2 of soil by dynamic compaction. To complete the site within the deadlines, three dynamic compaction teams were required,using masses of 15 to 20 tonnes.

HomageJean Muller died on 17 March at the age of 80. A graduate of theprestigious EcoleCentrale, he joinedStup (Technical

company for using prestressingtechniques, which later becameFreyssinet International in 1976) in 1947. After heading the NewYork branch of Freyssinet Company Inc. from 1951 to 1955,he went on to become the technical director and thenresearch director of CampenonBernard. At the same time, hefounded the offices of Figg andMuller in 1978 and Jean MullerInternational (JMI) in 1986. As of 1988, Jean Muller continuedhis career with Scetauroute (today Egis). Freyssinet offers its most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

PANORAMA

The pathway in the skyFreyssinet has just finished building a 34 m long suspended footbridge in the Mafate natural amphitheatre on Reunion island. To build thisstructure on a section of the islandthat is isolated, with no road infrastructures, all the site materialshad to be brought in by helicopter.

Strengthening in JamaicaIn Kingston, Jamaica, Ménard Soltraitementis strengthening the land carved out of the mangrove to build a dual three-lanesuperhighway. Called Highway 2000, this new 6-kilometre stretch will double the size of the existing road in 2006 to easethe traffic in the harbour area. To consoli-date the highly compressible land in theshort time available, Ménard Soltraitementis installing 1.5 million metres of vertical drains and more than 130,000 metres of controlled-modulus columns (CMC).

A wall on the lineAt Telegraph Bay, in the south of Hong Kong island, considerable work has been carried out in order to build a road that leads to Cyberport, a new IT and new technology business park. After designing the road, Reco HK has justcompleted building a 25.5 m high two-tier Reinforced Earth with 13 m backfill surcharge. “The eight months that it took to completethis project were very challenging”, confides Norman Lee, project manager at Reco HK, “because we had to work under trying environmental conditions(proximity to the road restricted us to using short reinforcements, and created difficulties in implementing logistic resources) without compromisingarchitectural aesthetics.”

P A N O R A M A

Renovation at the topIn January this year, Freyssinet took part in renovating the upper platform of the La Gacholle lighthouse, a 19.56 m highstructure on land that was built in 1882 in what is today the national park ofCamargue (France). Once the damagedareas were repaired with limestone toresemble the original state, a coating offlexible epoxy was applied to the platformto improve its watertightness.

Water protectionbarrierIn Australia, near the Sydneyairport, Austress Freyssinet hasbuilt a wall on the banks of theTempe public landfill. This wall is 18 m deep, 1,360 metres long and is made of bentonite. It was built to prevent leachatesfrom the landfills fromcontaminating the water in theadjoining canal. The excavationwas done using a special craneimported from the United States.Austress Freyssinet has alsoinstalled a control device and asystem for draining leachatesinto a purification station.

Freyssinet gives a helping hand in tsunami disaster-stricken areasIn India, as everywhere in South Asia, work has begun to rebuild the areas devastatedby the December 26th tidal wave. Freyssinet International is working on the site of the nuclear power station plant of Kudankulam in the south of the country (see s&s no. 217), and has made a donation to the neighbouring communities. This donation was handed over at the plant in early January by S. K. Agrawal, Director of Construction, and will be used to purchase land and build houses.

South AfricaResa wins bid forrecord contractThe South African Reinforced Earth subsidiaryrecently signed a contract (the biggest concludedsince it’s inception in 1975) for the design andsupply of retaining walls for the MbabaneBypass, a 12 km section of freeway bypassingMbabane, the capital of Swaziland. Constructionof the freeway began in October 2004 and isplanned for completion in March 2006. Theproject comprises the construction of 14retaining walls (5,500 m2); 12 true abutmentsand 4 mixed abutments (5,000 m2) and; thecreation of 4 massive tiered fills, each more than30 m high. All structures will be clad with a plainTerraClass facing. The total face area is 36,000 m2

and the total length of 45 * 5mm high

A testimonial bridgein Hong KongIn China, Freyssinet has been awarded a contract for the operations of heavy lifting,supply and installation of stay cables, and spherical and pot bearings for the Shenzhen Western Corridor bridge, currentlyunder construction. This new 3.8-kilometrelong cable-stayed road-bridge which is a dual three-lane, will be the fourth linkbetween Hong Kong and China. Erected on the Hong Kong side, the inclined asymmetrical pylon of the structure will besupporting two sets of 13 stay cables (300 t). While construction on this project has just started, Freyssinet Asia hasfinished installing the 113 spans of the Deep Bay double viaduct not far away.Responsible for precasting and installingthese elements, Freyssinet Asia is also incharge of designing the 2 launching trusses(photo above) as well as implementing thepreload, bearings and expansion joints.

A member of the consortium responsible for building the first EPR (EuropeanPressure Reactor) nuclear reactor on the Olkiluoto site in Finland together with Siemens, the Areva Group has entrusted the supply and implementationof the prestressing of the protective shield to Freyssinet’s Structures division. After the Tianwan nuclear power plant (China), this will be the third protectiveshield that uses Freyssinet 55C15 prestressing anchors.

European first in Finland


PANORAMA

Resisting the cold Selected by the STTS group (Saipem-Technigaz-Tecnimont-Sofregaz), Freyssinet will supply and install the horizontaland vertical prestressings for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks built in Chengdu (China).Before it won this outsourcing contract, Freyssinet’s prestressing system had successfully passed cryogenic resistance tests. 1,230 t of strands will be laid between now and December 2005.

23,711m2 of post-tensionedconcrete slabs

Freyssinet Singapore has taken part in designing and laying 23,711 m2

of post-tensioned concrete floors for the headquarters of the computerservices company Infineon Asia Pacific. The structure is made up oftwo oval-shaped buildings slightly out of line with each other, linkedtogether by footbridges on the third, fifth, seventh and ninth floors.

Tunnels on the runwayIn order to widen the runway at Melilla airport, a Spanishcoastal town to the north-east of Morocco, Tierra Armada Spain manufactured and supplied 4,000 square metres of retaining wall facing as well as arches needed for building thetwo tunnels. The first structure (179 m) will be assembled abovea spring of water and the second (202 m) above a road. All the arches as well as the cladding were made byTierra Armada then stored in a precast yard next to the airport.

Stamped on deliveryOn January 3rd this year, a few weeks after the viaduct of Millauwas opened to the public, the French Post Office (La Poste)confirmed the structure’s vocation as a vehicle of exchange and communication by printing a stamp with its picture on it.The stamp costs €0.50 and was designed by Sarah Lazarevic.

Historicalanchors

Between December 2004 andJanuary 2005, Freyssinet

carried out the generalreplacement of the anchors of

the retaining cables on thedeck of the Matrou transporter

bridge. Listed as an historicalmonument since 1976 and

today reserved for pedestrians,this structure which crosses

the Charente River was built byFerdinand Arnodin in 1900.

It has a suspended deck 175 m long with its pylonsextending 50 m above the

highest water level.

Strengthened to the topFreyssinet carried out repairs andstrengthening works on a 70 m high reinforced concrete tower in the cement factory of Jbel Oust in Tunisia. During the 10 months of the project,350 m2 of Carbon Fibre Fabric (TFC)and 80 metal saddles were installed,with 35 m2 of shotcrete also sprayed at a height of over 50 m high without ever disrupting factoryproduction.


C L O S E - U P


The great wall ofSeydhisfjördhurDuring the second half of 2004 in Iceland, the land of the midnight sun,Reinforced Earth - Freyssinet’s British subsidiary, built two TerraTrel retainingwalls of 6,600 m2. Erected for the communities of Seydhisfjördhur (photo) in the west of the country and Isafjördhur in the north-east, these two structuresdo not foreshadow future road building projects but rather revive the age-old function of walls in this region: protecting men from avalanches.


F O C U S

Soils & Structures. - The year2005 began forFreyssinet in the spirit ofexternal growth with theintegration of three com-panies. Can you tell usabout them?Bruno Dupety. – Thefirst of the three to joinus was Hebetec on 25th October 2004. It is a company with 23employees, based inHindelbank near Berne,in the German-speakingpart of Switzerland. It specialises in lifting,lowering and displacingof heavy loads. When it was created in 1995, it worked exclusively oncables. In ten years, it has grown in by leapsand bounds: its turnoverhas jumped from€700,000 to €4 million.Today it is a companythat has operationsworldwide. We actuallycame into contact witheach other through oneof our Asian subsidiaries. Focusing on its corebusiness, Hebetec hasdeveloped other skillsrelated to the building of temporary steelframes, which aresometimes required in lifting operations. It has developed a

Construction GrandsProjets. Created in 1979under the nameRadiacontrôle andspecialising in thesanitisation of ionisedenvironments, it wasacquired by EMCC in 1990 and then byCampenon Bernard in 1993. It has beenintegrated into theStructures Division ofFreyssinet, and is today awholly-owned subsidiaryof the Group. It has aworkforce of about 150 people, spread overthe three sites inBeaumont-Hague(Normandy), Saclay(Paris region) andPierrelatte (south-eastFrance) working for thefour major companies of the French nuclearindustry, CEA, Cogema,Andra and Framatome,specialising in threeareas – radioprotection,sanitisation anddismantling in ionisingenvironments. In 2004, it posted aturnover of €10 million.It has a very strongtechnical culture and is solidly established in a specialised field,which is the dominantcharacteristic of the

Three acquisitionsto reinforce the Group’s offer

revolutionary slidingprocess called the AirPad Sliding System (APS)for the naval industry.Based on the use of jacksand the air pad principle,this system was recentlyused in South Korea to launch giant methanetankers that had beenbuilt on-shore. Thisprocess which noweliminates the need fordry docks, is set for apromising future! Lastly, to create a firstlink between civilengineering andFreyssinet, I must pointout that it was a teamfrom Hebetec thatlowered the temporaryportals for the bridge cap of the Millau viaduct250 m (170 tonnes) in September andOctober 2004. In a field closer to us, wetook over JMB Méthodesand its patents for “deck shifting underrailways” during thesame period. Thisprocess makes it possibleto erect bridges overrailway tracks overnight!We didn’t have to travelall around the world tofind out about Salvarem:until December 31st, it was part of VINCI

By taking over Hebetec, JMBMéthodes and Salvarem at thebeginning of 2005, Freyssinet is completing and enhancing itsmarket proposal. Presentation and explanations by Bruno Dupety, Group Chairman and CEO.


With its three businesses, radioprotection,sanitisation and dismantling in ionisingenvironments, Salvarem rounds up Freyssinet’snuclear offering.

FOCUS

companies in our group.Salvarem has createdinnovative tools andmethods for sanitisationand decontamination,and has won renown forthe dismantling of theMonts d’Arrée andBrennilis (Finistère)power plants as well asthe CEA’s Triton nuclearreactor in Fontenay-aux-Roses (Paris region).

What are your objectives in taking overthese companies?Our civil engineeringoperations often involvethe lifting of heavy loads,either to positionpermanent structures orstructural componentsor for temporarydisplacements duringrepair or maintenanceoperations. Thisexpertise, which used to be provided byFreyssinet, was lackingin our structure. Insteadof redeveloping it, which would havemeant training people

and purchasingequipment, we preferredto seize the opportunityof this acquisition whichtakes us immediately to the forefront of thismarket. Furthermore,Hebetec has provided us with openings intocountries like Germany,Switzerland and Austria, wheretraditionally we are notgreatly represented. Our activities will beorganized in 3 ways:Hebetec will continue its activities with its ownclients; it will workeither as a partner or as a subcontractor ofFreyssinet’s entities and subsidiaries; it willlease out equipment to companies of theGroup that havemaintained their liftingexpertise, I’m thinkingnaturally of FreyssinetFrance. The takeover of JMB Méthodes willreinforce the advantagegained by theacquisition of Hebetec

and should position us on a niche market. The integration ofSalvarem, just like thatof Hebetec, is aimed at extending andenhancing what wecurrently offer. However,in this case, it is a question ofcompleting expertisethat the Group has hadfor over twenty yearsthrough the NTS(Nuclear Special Works)Division located inMarseilles. For manyyears Freyssinet wasactive in the nuclearsector through thesupply and installationof prestressing for many nuclear reactorcontainments. It laterdeveloped a structuremaintenance offer andhas recently taken on the sanitisation anddecontamination of

the gutters of theauxiliary buildings ofpower plants, inparticular for EDF. In amarket where there are no majordismantling operationsas yet, it is only bypooling together ourforces and working in synergy that we can optimise ourcommercial penetrationand position ourselvesmore effectively onmedium-sized projects,where our objective is to gradually step upour operations.

"External growth" isanother way of saying"growth" pure andsimple. So how is 2005shaping up for Freyssinetin this respect?In the first quarter of2005, Freyssinetrecorded an 11%

increase in consolidatedturnover compared to 2004. Most of thecountries in which weoperate experiencedgrowth, confirming our subsidiaries’ strongmarket positioning. Our objective remainsfocused on "doing betterand more everywhereinstead of doingeverything everywhere".As a result, ourperformance continuesto improve, allowing usto consider furtheracquisitions in our specialised linesof business. ■

The Air Pad Sliding system (APS) developed by Hebetec uses jacks and airpads to launch boats that are built on dry docks.


R E P O R T R E I N F O R C E D E A R T H

THE SAGA OF A VERYForty years after itwas invented, the ReinforcedEarth technology is used on the fivecontinents and is an example of the benefits that can be reapedby authenticinnovations. These benefits still hold a lot ofpromise, since the technology ishighly appreciatedby architects and has manyconvincingenvironmentaladvantages.

IT ALL BEGAN LIKE A GAME,when he built a sandcastle on the

beach in Saint-Tropez, as wasexplaining generally Henri Vidal, ahighway engineer and architect.But the sand kept on falling off andthis led to the idea of reinforcing theconstruction with pine needles.That is how the general principle ofReinforced Earth came about. Haslegend been mixed up with reality?

Maybe not exactly, but the hypothe-sis of the brain wave is not at all sur-prising in a group like Freyssinet,whose three businesses werefounded by famous and prolificinventors. “To sum up”, explainsPhilippe Héry, Director of the Soilsdivision of the Freyssinet group,“Reinforced Earth consists in rein-forcing a backfill with reinforce-ments strips that were originallymade of metal. The reinforcedstructure then becomes its ownsupport and its outer facing is cov-ered with a surface made of precastelements. This technique does not

have the disadvantages of concretewalls that are traditionally cast insitu (limited height, unsuitabilityfor average soil conditions, highcost), but also has many advan-tages. It is flexible, able to supportdifferential settlements, can beadapted to urban areas, where thereis a limited covered surface, and isearthquake tolerant. In addition tothese technical advantages, Rein-forced Earth has demonstrated itsarchitectural resources by givingrise to a very diverse range of sur-faces (see p. 12) and its environ-mental integration potential. Today,

it is also very much in phase withthe principles of sustainability. “Ayear after he filed a patent in 1963,Henri Vidal received an order foran initial structure, the wall inPragnères near Luz-Saint-Sauveur(Hautes-Pyrénées, France) andthen produced many structuresfor the railway company, SNCF. In1968, he created a company calledLa Terre Armée that dealt with thedevelopment of road and motor-way projects and the business rap-idly took off and rapidly withbranches springing up abroad. Itsoon created subsidiaries in the

“The Reinforced Earth technology has the advantage of beingflexible. It can bear differential settlements and is adapted to

urban areas.”

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DOSSIER

lication, by the roads and roadtraffic division, of Ouvrages en Terrearmée, recommandations et règlesde l’art (Reinforced earth structures,recommendations and good prac-tices). At that time, Reinforced Earthwas hailed as one of the mostimportant innovations of the civilengineering industry. A quarter of acentury later, the page was turnedas the first patents entered the pub-lic domain. However, the processhas found its place: it reached themillion square metre mark ofannual production in 1993, and, in

2004, only five years after TAI wastaken over by Freyssinet, it reachedthe two million square metre mark.Philippe Héry continues his review:“In terms of the number of squaremetres built, it is North America(and mainly Florida and Texas) thatcome first with 33%, followed byAsia with 32% (20% of which comesfrom Japan), Europe (18%), LatinAmerica (8%), and the rest splitbetween Australia, Africa and theMiddle East. In fact, he underlines,the fact that owing to its ability tooffer steel reinforcement stripsdesigned by Reinforced Earth aswell as the synthetic reinforcementstrip system (Freyssisol system)promoted by Freyssinet in the1990s, Freyssinet can meet allrequirements, even on soil with avery high chloride concentration asis the case of port structures or Mid-dle Eastern countries.” All over theworld, Reinforced Earth is thus rec-ommended and used in applica-tions that range from roads andmotorways, railways, bridge abut-ments, hydraulic installations, trainplatform walls and industrial sites.“However, the perfect illustration ofthe success of the technique, is theway in which each country adopts itto suit its needs. This is what we’reseeing for example today with theimpressive infrastructure pro-gramme being carried out in Indiawhere the use of Reinforced Earth isbeing increasingly used, as well asin Europe and the United Stateswhere projects have to comply withvery stringent architectural andenvironmental standards.”Driven by the entities of five divi-sions out of the seven divisions cre-ated to enhance Freyssinet’s expert-ise worldwide, Reinforced Earth,nevertheless stands out in the Groupby its relative absence in its con-struction sites. This important ▼ ▼

United States (1977) and Spain(1972). In 1974, licenses wereacquired by Sumitomo andKawasho, that merged with NKKTrading in 2004 to become JFEShoji, in Japan, which is a highearthquake prone country. At thesame time, the company, whichhad become a group under thename Terre Armée Internationale(TAI), continued to carry outresearch and developed reinforce-ments with a very high adherenceand consolidated its positions byfiling a large number of patents.1976 was a first symbolic mile-stone because it was the year that100,000 square metres of Rein-forced Earth were produced andcruted worldwide. Three yearslater, in 1979, the company estab-lished its reputation with the pub-

Prefabricated facing scales (1,3), metal or synthetic reinforcements (4,7), backfill material(4,6,7,8): the components of the technology place Reinforced Earth halfway between geotechnics and structures. After they have been laid, they form a composite material that is durable, effective and able to adapt to the most complex configurations.

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CONSTRUCTIVE IDEA

«“Our package is engineering,supply of components and aid in set-up.”»

PHILIPPE HÉRY, SOILS DIVISION MANAGER



specificity is explained by thefact that in France, for example, thecompany has less than fifteenemployees based at the Freyssinetsite in Vélizy. “We are selling a sys-tem, not a product, stressesPhilippe Héry. Our “package” con-sists in the engineering, the supply

of components – cladding panelsand reinforcements – and technicalsupport during assembly, which is aservice aspect that is very importantfor us.” This characteristic is natu-rally expressed in the large propor-tion of engineers among ouremployees. The Technical Division

that works on the Reinforced Earthsegment, is known as SoilTech, andis based in Nozay. It is a relativelylight structure with four engineers,one of which is a consultant. Theteam draws on the global Rein-forced Earth network, whichenables it to multiply its action.

SoilTech, a technical guarantee

“All the companies are technicallyand commercially accountable,explains Nicolas Freitag, an engi-neer at SoilTech. This means thatmost of them have a design andengineering department dedicated

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DOSSIER

to their operational activities (actionplans) and to meet requests for spe-cific applications received fromarchitects. SoilTech is the heart ofReinforced Earth’s research anddevelopment system. It focuses onthe technical aspect to “bring qual-ity to the business”, which is a major

criterion for our clients. Its tasks alsoinclude assisting the other compa-nies. In everyday terms, this func-tion, which represents more thanhalf of its business, is proof of thedynamism and diversity of technicalcommunications between entities,whether it is a matter of finding a setof references for sea walls in thearchives to finalise a call for tenderby the subsidiary in the United ArabEmirates, of looking for the solutionto a design problem in South Koreain the network, which has aboutthirty experts worldwide, or deliver-ing a solution to a young company.Research and development is amore highly strategic activity that isjust as linked to communications.SoilTech therefore carries out con-tinuous intelligence, analyses lostcontracts with a fine-tooth comb,observes the competition, takes partin the work of the InternationalGeosynthetic Society (IGS), to “get afeel of needs and identify any short-comings”. When you listen to Nico-las Freitag, the SoilTech attitude for

this mission can be summed up in asingle word that is in line with theoriginal idea: innovation. “In spite of40 years of history, we can do a lot toimprove the original ingenious ideausing new materials and numericaldigital analyses that will enable us tooptimise the performance andsafety of structures and inventionsthat may not have generated appli-

cations but are the source of newideas!” Among the research focusesthat have recently given rise to thefiling of patents, we must point outthe development by SoilTech, in col-laboration with Terre Armée BV(Netherlands) and Terre Armée SNC(France), of the Omega connection,a system for anchoring the syn-thetic reinforcements strips

Developed by the Reinforced Earth research and developmentdivision, the Omega connexion is an anchoring system for synthetic reinforcements that is cast directly into the panelduring the prefabrication stage.

Whether it is the scaleshape, its composition,surface appearance,“graphic treatment or plantdecoration, the techniqueoffers a particularly richpalette of “renderings”. 1 TerraPlus Retaining wallon the State Highway 4 in Maryland (United States). 2 Architectural Freyssisolsurfaces near Raon-l'Étape(France). 3 Details of a patternadorning the ReinforcedEarth wall on State Highway 114 in Texas(United States). 4 Architectural pattern ofthe Childress wall in Texas,with TerraPlus surfaces(United States). 5 5 de Mayo Interchange, Lower California (Mexico). 6 TerraTrel Access rampnear Faulquemont (France). 7 TerraBlock Retaining wall in Dubai (United ArabEmirates). 8 Architectural facings of a retaining wall on State Highway 45 in Texas(United States). 9 Retaining wall withspecific panels onmotorway A29 in Vallon-de-Rogerville between the LeHavre and Saint- Saens(France).10 Architectural TerraClasswall in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer (France).

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“The main asset of the Rein-forced Earth technology is itsability to change and adapt,which enables it to meet theneeds of new markets, reckonsRoger Bloomfield, CEO of RECoin the United States. As themain Reinforced Earth com-pany, we put a lot into this strat-egy and work very closely withSoilTech. We hope in this way

that we will be helping the Group to cope with thefuture requirements. We apply the same approachwhen we take part in in-house meetings such as therecent ones in Dubai or in Boston last year. Actually,we should probably revamp our slogan “globalexpertise, local experience”, because today, ourpractices are more along the lines of “global sharingof local expertise”. All the major Reinforced Earthentities are today pursuing an active R&D policy;and the challenge is to share these areas of expert-ise among all the companies.”

Roger Bloomfield : «Sharing global expertise »

“At the heart of Reinforced Earth’s research and development, SoilTech works to bring quality to the business.”


into the panel during the pre-fabrication. It is a fine example ofhow SoilTech is able to combine itsexpertise with the research carriedout in the network. SoilTech hasvalidated a similar connection,called C, also began designed in theUnited States and completed in theUnited Arab Emirates, using its pro-found knowledge of standards, itsmastery of test procedures and sta-tistic interpretation. “This way of operating has provedto be right, Martin Van Den Berg,

olition (recycled concrete, road-drilling material) as backfill. “Ourservices include material specifica-tions, explains Nicolas Freitag, andwhen one of the companies can nolonger obtain supplies of conform-ing new material that meets specifi-cations, we have to provide themwith information on how to use ortreat (chalk treated with cement,loam treated with lime) to ensurethat mechanical or chemical prob-lems do not deteriorate the rein-forcements strips.”

Together with the design team

Provide solutions and anticipateneeds: this sums up the entire phi-losophy of the sales team of theFrench subsidiary, based in Vélizy,under the motto “global expertise,local experience”. It has dividedFrance into three operating areas:the South-West, under Pierre Sery,the director of Terre Armée SNC, theNorth with David Brancaz, and theSouth-East plus the export regions,under Alain Tigoulet. “Project man-

manager of Terre Armée BV assuresus. This is because, for over thirtyyears, it has enabled us to share allthe questions handled by SoilTechwith about forty Reinforced Earthsubsidiaries worldwide and to solvetheir clients’ problems.” SoilTechwill be focusing on a new subject inthe near future. It is directly con-nected with the emergence of sus-tainable development and con-cerns the increasing use of exca-vated material on sites and nodoubt material obtained from dem-

The philosophy of Reinforced Earth’s sales teams focuses ondelivering solutions and anticipating needs.


1 The reduced implementationtime of the technique makesit a favourite in road,motorway and railwaystructures (photo 1: SouthKorea). 2 Because it meets industrialsite layout requirements,Reinforced Earth has beenused to erect over onehundred dump wallsworldwide (photo 2: Australia).Its flexibility also makes it ideal for circular retainingstructures like the Muskegfoam tanks in Canada (photo 3). 4 The qualities of ReinforcedEarth in land applications are repeated in sea or river constructions, with astrong resistance to the stressof floods or swells. In DenBosch (The Netherlands), for example, mixed TerraClassand TerraTrel walls retain houses in this way.

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DOSSIERDOSSIER

agers and the design firms Egis,Setec, Ingerop and Arcadis, who arein charge of the research and designon the capital investment projectsof public bodies (local councils,regional authorities, Government)are our privileged contacts, heexplains, because when a retainingstructure is planned, we gettogether to define a solution, eitheron our own initiative or because wehave been consulted. We’re also intouch with a large number of con-sultancies, including architecturalfirms specialiszed in civil engineer-ing structures, and design offices(between 30 and 50) with whom wedevote nearly half our time.” Thisupstream work normally providesbetween 10 and 12 months of workbefore the project, most of the time

INTERVIEW

Charles Lavigne:“Sculpting nature”A specialist of civil engineering structures,architect Charles Lavigne has not onlylinked his name to the Normandy bridge,but also designed many Reinforced Earth

structures, in particular on the RN 202 bis trunk road, the Mus-sidan-Périgueux section of the A89 motorway and the A75 withthe Soumont wall.

Reinforced Earth is considered a major innovation of the public works sector of the 1970s. Do you agree with this? Indeed I do, and for two reasons. From a technical viewpoint,Reinforced Earth opened up new horizons by making it possibleto erect very high walls with vertical faces that are very easy toinstall even in places that are difficult to access. From an archi-tectural viewpoint, its large surface scales, which conjure upthe cyclopean walls of Central America or Egypt, have given anew dimension to retaining walls. We can sum up by saying thatReinforced Earth makes it possible to remodel landscapes andsculpt nature.

What was the first structure on which you used ReinforcedEarth for the first time? It was in the late 1970s on the A40 Nantua-Bellegarde motor-way (Ain), at a spot where roads were on a mountain slope andwere separated. The creation of a Reinforced Earth wall usingthe excavated material of the higher road made it possible tosupport the downhill road, which was not supported by any-thing. For this structure, we designed an exclusive model withscales that came in four varieties. This obliged us to make apattern layout of 150,000 m2 of Reinforced Earth, but in winterthe walls are adorned with stalactites and this gives a superbeffect.

What are the architectural resources used in the process?How do you use them?To create light and shadow effects that emphasise or diminishthe presence of structures in the landscape, we can work withan entire range of surface skins (stony appearance, smoothappearance, etc.) and their organisation. On the Soumont wall,the creation of a staggered effect recalls the presence of astream. On the Brest ring road, I used tile-covered facings.Some architects use coloured concrete. TerraTrel is a solutionthat is very popular at the moment, because you can see thematerial. And because it can be used on slopes, we can plantvegetation on it, which rapidly gives a very natural facing in notime at all.

What is your vision of the creative potential of Reinforced Earth ?The technique has already demonstrated what it can do. It canfind new applications in all the places where we want to createlarge movements of earth, give a landscape a facelift or requal-ify a site. I’m thinking of the use that could be made of Rein-forced Earth cords for landfills, the possible reclaiming of dis-used quarries to return them to the environment. I think that iswhat we managed to do on the A40, and even more recently inthe La Maurienne valley, where we used Reinforced Earth torequalify the mountain bedrock that had been disfigured bymany brown fields.

represented by flagship projectssuch as the recent bearing andretaining structures of the viaductof the RN 202 bis trunk road atSaint-Laurent-du-Var, the Soumontwall near Lodève, on the A75, in theHérault region (over 30 m high andcovering an area of 10,000 m2), thefive structures of the Mussidan-Périgueux section of the A89 motor-way (12,000 m2), or the 30,000 m2

project being executed on the A51motorway at Monestier de Cler-mont, in the Isère region. The salesmanagers spend the rest of theirtime between preparing answers toinvitations to tender and projectfollow-up. On one hand, they workwith the design department headedby Eric Lucas, who provides themwith the survey statements theyneed to cost evaluate their projectcosts and assists them in resolvinggeotechnical problems, and AlainGorce, the construction manager, inrelation with the two panel prefab-rication companies; and on theother hand they work with the ben-eficiaries of the construction works– earthwork contractors and struc-tural works contractors to put thefinal touches to the geometry of thestructures, which may havechanged significantly since the ini-tial studies, and to define the actualimplementation conditions (natureand granulometry of backfills, soilcontent, etc.).For Alain Tigoulet, the list of tasksshould include contacts with theFreyssinet network, which supportsthe development of exports. “Anincreasing number of projects arebeing executed outside France, heconcludes. We have sites in the for-mer French territories and we’realso answering tenders in theBalkans, Romania, Russia, Greece,North Africa, Senegal, and even asfar as Swaziland, an area managedby Reinforced Earth Pty Ltd (SouthAfrica).” ■

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R E A L I Z A T I O N S

BETWEEN CHARLESTON ANDMOUNT PLEASANT in South

Carolina, two steel bridges on thecoast form the crossing of Highway17 over the mouth of the CooperRiver. These two bridges, one ofwhich was built in 1928 and theother in 1968 have long ceased tomeet traffic needs or comply withsafety standards. They will soon bereplaced by the Arthur Ravenel Jrbridge that is nearly completed.This new bridge is remarkable formany reasons: with a length of4,023 m, 900 of which are cable-stayed, and with a central span of472 m, it will beat the record of thelongest cable-stayed span in NorthAmerica (which had been held bythe Alex Fraser bridge in Vancou-ver). The Ravenel bridge is sup-ported by 128 stays that have beenentirely supplied, installed andtensioned by Freyssinet. That is theother remarkable new feature ofthis bridge. “It is the first time thatwe have won a contract to buildstay cables in the United States,explains Olivier Forget, projectmanager for Freyssinet. We onlyprovided technical support on theLeonard P. Zakim Bunker Hillbridge in Boston and the Bill Emer-son bridge in Cape Girardeau.” With its vast experience, the very

international Freyssinet teamerected a pair of stay cables perpylon and per week, despite thefive hurricanes that hit the regionin September” notes Olivier Forgetwith pride. In addition to the sup-ply and installation of the staycables, the special climatic condi-tions of the region led the StateDepartment of Transportation toask Freyssinet to carry out a seriesof studies and analyses of the staycable vibrations and provide adamping system. During the con-

With the record of thelongest central span in North America, the bridge

on the Cooper river is also the first contract to supply andinstall stay cables that the companyhas signed in the United States.

Owner: South CarolinaDepartment of TransportationConsulting Engineer: TY Lin.Design engineer: ParsonsBrinkeroff – Buckland Taylor.Main Contractor:JV Skanska-Tide Water-HBGFlatiron.Specialised Contractor:Freyssinet.

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struction works, we had to erect“high-wind” stability cables to sta-bilise the structure when the aver-age wind speed exceeded 75 km/hfor an hour. Thanks to a systemmade up nails and a counter-weight, the deck swung like a pen-dulum during the hurricanes.

Special dampers

Freyssinet’s international team,made up of ten different nationali-ties, arrived on the site in early Jan-uary 2004. It finished laying thecable stays on 11 February 2005and is currently installing the 112internal hydraulic dampers, whichincludes 28 double dampers (spe-cially designed for the structure)and 16 external dampers that willbe installed on cables in excess of250 metres. At the same time, it iscarrying out the geometricaladjustments to the bridge. “We willcomplete our participation at theend of May with damping tests on

STRUCTURES/ARTHUR RAVENEL JR BRIDGE

Two firsts in the New World

the cable stays in collaborationwith Advitam, our sister companyspecialised in the maintenanceand surveillance of structures”,concludes Olivier Forget. ■

Olivier Forget, project managerfor Freyssinet , and José Lopes,Freyssinet field manager.


REALIZATIONS

With its diamond-shaped towers, the profile of the new bridge will strike all passers-by. “The structure must have a light longitudinalprofile for aesthetic reasons and to withstand earthquakes, but it must at the same time be heavy enough for the hurricanes that are common in the region“, explains Olivier Forget. In addition to its visible and modern design, the bridge was built using other Freyssinet expertise: to control stay cable vibrations to the bridge construction the structure was stabilised with 112 internal hydraulic dampers and 16 external dampers.



NESTLED AT THE BOTTOM OFTHE MORBIHAN GULF NEAR

AURAY, the small Breton village ofLe Bono (2,000 inhabitants) islocated on the banks of the Le SalRiver. The only link between thetwo banks was an “old” suspensionbridge, 100 m long, built in 1840.The structure had two trusses madeup of 3 load-bearing cables onwhich 62 hangers were attached.On each bank, loop-shaped retain-ing cables were supported by thewalls of the U-shaped tunnels duginto the granite bedrock. Thebridge deck was composed of roadbearers and metal pieces. It held aplatform made of hardwood organ-ised into a Hungarian point andlaid on ledger strips. The bridge,which was designed at the periodwhen carts were in use, was

who won the contract, proposedanother solution consisting ofcomplete reconstruction of thebridge deck using a galvanisedstructure, and changing of thetwelve suspension cables.

Evacuation by flotation

The team came to the site in Octo-ber 2004 and immediately set towork to dismantle the suspendedspan. “We “oxy-cut” the bridgedeck into 6 m sections, which wetook down using linear winchesand transported away by flotation”,explains Ronan Bohéas, an engi-

strengthened in 1870 and again in1925 to enable it to bear the weightof vehicles of up to 12 tonnes. Lat-eral stiffening girders forminghand-rails were added to thebridge deck at this time.

Whipped by spray

Located in a sea environment andfully exposed to the vagaries of theweather and sea spray, the metalstructure had deteriorated over theyears, leading the local authoritiesto close the bridge to vehicles in1995 and to pedestrians at thebeginning of 2003. Although it nolonger held strategic interest forthe local inhabitants, since theconstruction of another bridge further upstream that enabledmotorists to cross the Sal, the oldbridge remained entrenched in the

Closed for two years becauseof its bad state, the Bonosuspension bridge (Morbihan,

France) has been given a new lease on life thanks to Freyssinet’s bridge renovation expertise.

STRUCTURES/BONO BRIDGE

Rebirth of a hundred and fifty year-old structure

local memory and inhabitantsremained very attached to it. After the Bono mayor’s office man-aged to have the bridge listed onthe supplementary inventory ofhistorical monuments in 1997, itdecided to save the structure fromcollapse and mobilised to collectthe funds needed to restore thebridge and reopen it to strollers. Acall for tender was launched inJune 2004 for sand blasting andgeneral painting, the replacementor repair of certain metal parts andthe complete replacement of thehardwood platform. Freyssinet,


REALIZATIONS

SINCE IT JOINED THE EURO-PEAN UNION, Hungary has

launched a massive programme tomodernise its infrastructure, in par-ticular to bring its motorways inline with the European network andto relieve the isolation of some of itsregions. For example the extensionworks on the M7 motorway, which

thick marshy land (up to 5 m thickin some places) that requiresground improvement . Of the vari-ous solutions proposed, the maincontractor chose the one offered byMénard Soltraitement consisting ofdynamic replacement. This wasjudged to be the most efficient, themost competitive and the fastest toimplement.

Dynamic replacement andcontrolled-modulus columns

“We have to make sure that thebackfill is stable and reduce differ-ential settlements to a minimum onthe motorway segment”, explainsGilles Costa, in charge of the workbeing carried out by Ménard Sol-traitement. To cut down on pedes-trian traffic on bridges under con-struction, we have created an origi-nal solution that combines dynamicreplacement sections and con-trolled-modulus columns (CMC).“At each end of the structures, thefirst 15 m of motorway were treatedwith CMC and the next 15 m withdynamic replacement with pre-loading. The current section of themotorway had been traditionallytreated with dynamic replace-ment.” To implement the projectand realize about 400,000 m2 ofdynamic replacement within thetight deadline (the works were com-pleted at the end of April), MénardSoltraitement mobilised five cranesdoing double shifts. At the sametime, a team of sounders and apressure meter team carried outpreliminary tests, work inspectionand installation of monitoringinstruments that were mainly inter-stitial pressure sensors. “Of thethirty odd people who took part inthis project, nearly a third wererecruited and trained locally” GillesCosta adds. ■

SOILS/M7 MOTORWAY

Consolidating the lakefront

In Hungary, where work is underway to extend the M7 motorway, Ménard

Soltraitement has mobilised a team to carry out soil consolidationover 400,000 square metresalongside Lake Balaton.

Owner: Hungary MotorwayMain Contractor: Vegyepszer.Specialised Contractor:Ménard Soltraitement

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connects Budapest to Sófiok, to thenorth-east of Lake Balaton, will,provide a link with Croatia, which isonly 120 km away. The contract forthe work on the section runningalongside the lake was awarded tothe Hungarian company Vegyep-szer. Part of the works is on a ten-kilometre stretch where there is

Owner: town of Bono.Consulting Engineer: Morbihan public worksdepartment.Engineering ConsultingCompany: Sogreah Best(Pontivy – 56).Main Contractor: Freyssinet.▼

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neer at Freyssinet. In early Decem-ber, we removed the old suspensioncables. We collected the metal sock-ets and gave them to the cable sup-plier for socketing. Freyssinet alsocarried out additional works, suchas rehabilitation of the access spansand anchor chambers. After thenew suspension cables were deliv-ered, reconstruction of the bridgedeck began at the beginning of Feb-ruary. “The process was the oppo-site of the dismantling process, i.e.,the sections were brought by sea”,continues Ronan Bohéas. After thebridge was completely rebuilt, at the end of April 2005, and the sus-pension adjusted by equipressure,the old bridge was inaugurated and reopened with the pomp andfestivities worthy of this land of the“forban”, a two-mast rowboat. ■



STRUCTURES/JEBEL ALI SILOS

Strengthening at the top and bottomIn Dubai (UnitedArab Emirates),additionalprestressingmade it possibleto increase the capacity of asugar silo andenabled MénardSoltraitement to enhance itssoil consolidationexpertise.

THE SHARP GROWTH OF THESUGAR refining industry in the

Jebel Ali free port franc in Dubai,has led the port authorities todevelop their storage facilities. In2004, it launched the constructionof a new 900,000-tonne silo. How-ever, this capacity turned out to beinsufficient even before the projectwas completed. The only solutionthat could be envisaged withoutdemolishing and rebuilding the silowas to raise the concrete skin roofby 20 to 25 m.“To prevent any excess structuraloverall weight, the project consult-ing engineer recommended that anexternal additional prestressing beadded”, explains Khalil Doghri, man-ager of the Freyssinet Gulf agency.“That is how we managed to win thecontract in mid-May 2004 after abidding process.” To strengthen thestructure, the Freyssinet teamsinstalled 117 cables with a height of16 m around the sailor silo (this rep-resented 80 t of steel). Each ring was

Group synergy Located in the same premises in Dubai, Freyssinet Gulf, MénardSoltraitement and Reinforced Earth offer very complementaryservices to their clients. Employees of the three companies areconstantly in touch and propose comprehensive and responsivesolutions, thanks to a very diverse range of services. In additionto the construction of the new silos of the Jebel Ali free port, thesynergies developed over the last five years have resulted in othercommon projects such as the Townsville sugar terminal in Aus-tralia (see S&S no.° 217).

made up of 4 strands each 138 mlong connected by 468 X anchors,enclosed in single HDPE ductsinjected with cement grout.

55 m high of sugar

“When we were informed that newsilos were to be built during ourwork, we immediately presentedMénard Soltraitement to the ownerfor a foundation soil improvementsolution for the new structures”,continues Khalil Doghri. Changing the initial solution by

the silo at full load, which is theequivalent of a height of 55m of sugar… and carried off the con-tract. “The calculations were com-plicated”, confides Dominique Jullienne, in charge of MénardSoltraitement’s business in theEmirates, “and we had to take intoaccount all the loading and reload-ing of heavy loads on time”.There were some other parameterssuch as the dynamic loads causedby the rubbing of sugar on the wallsof the silo. Finally, the solution pro-posed by Ménard Soltraitementconsisted in the combination of the company’s technical expertise:dynamic replacement, partialreplacement (piling of aggregateinto soils of weak consistency) andthe dynamic compaction of soils.This treatment was applied underthe silo skin roof, which resulted inthe uniform sagging of the siloslabs. “All the studies were validatedby modelling the behaviour of theslab laid on consolidated land andusing a Ménard pressuremeter”,concludes Cyril Plomteux, an engi-neer at Ménard Soltraitement. ■

sinking piles sunk into the sandyand silt-laden soil, which is a verycommon technique in the UnitedArab Emirates, Ménard Soltraite-ment proposed the installation ofdynamic replacement that willenable the soil to bear the weight of

The silo’s capacity has been increased with the

117 additional prestressingthat strengthen it over a

height of 16 m.


REALIZATIONS

SOILS/NORTH KIAMA BYPASS ROAD

Building a TunnelThe Reinforced EarthCompany in Australiacombined retaining walls

with precast concrete TechSpanarches to make it possible for a newaccess highway in North Kiama(Australia) to cross a railway.

Located two hours by car to thesouth of Sydney, North Kiama

(New South Wales), with itsbeaches, mountains with lush veg-etation and picturesque blow hole(cavity in the rocks on the seashorefrom which water spurts to heightsof 60 m under pressure fromwaves), is a choice destination forAustralians. For many years, carscould only take one road to getthere: a single-lane, winding roadcalled the Princes Highway. Con-struction of a new road was pro-posed in 1990, but it was not until1997 that construction of thiscompletely new, double-lanehighway commenced.

The second phase of construction,that began in November 2003,involved the Australian ReinforcedEarth subsidiary designing andsupplying a a covered railroad span(64 m long and 12 m wide) com-posed of TechSpan elements andReinforced Earth supported accessramps to replace the previousPrinces Highway grade crossing.“The plans for the tunnel weredrawn up using 3D-design soft-ware. This made it possible to opti-mize the design allowing for thecomplex geometry created by thehorizontally and vertically curvedrail track and the acute-angledretaining walls supporting the

highly skewed bypass road. Thiswas probably the main challengeof the project,” states Michiel Knol,Reinforced Earth engineer andproject manager. These 3D simula-tions made it possible to validatetunnel height and, especially, toadjust the ends of the coveredspan that were turned towards theinterior. It was necessary to build86 TechSpan® arch elements: 70with classic width, 7 with reducedwidth and 9 specially tapered ele-ments.In the final configuration, the roadwill cross over the covered span.For this, 2400 m2 of retaining wallsare under construction and will beused for the access ramps on eachside. “We were forced to find atechnical solution to allow thegeneral contractor to build thewalls without interrupting trafficon the Princes Highway runningalongside the structure on theocean side,” explains Michiel Knol.The construction timeline calledfor the retaining walls on the landside to be built first. On the otherside, temporary TerraTrel mesh

walls (1270 m2) have been built tostabilize the backfill and avoid runover into the road. “Once trafficcan be moved to the land side,we'll be able to complete con-struction of the covered span andretaining walls on the ocean side,”specifies Michiel Knol.“Technically and architecturallyspeaking, this is an interestingproject that uses three of our con-struction systems to achieveglobal aesthetic harmony,” con-cludes Graham Linn, ReinforcedEarth warehouse manager. He alsohighlights the attention brought tothe facing panels, in particular,that were specially precast toblend harmoniously with the land-scape. ■

PARTICIPANTS

Owner: Roads & TrafficAuthority of NSW.General Contractor: JohnHolland Pty Ltd.Design and Supply: ReinforcedEarth Company Australia

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ON THE WEST COAST OF THEMALAYSIAN peninsula, less

than 100 km from the Thai border,the town of Butterworth oppositethe island of Penang, is one of thecountry’s largest port complexes. Itis also the heart of a region under-going fast industrial and urbangrowth, where the 12.1 km Butter-worth Outer Ring Road project waslaunched as a concession in 1997 toconnect the Jalan Baru interchangein the south of the town and theSungai Dua interchange in thenorth, running alongside the portand the ferry terminal. In additionto the many road improvement

PARTICIPANTS

Owner: Lingkaran LuarButterworth Sdn Bhd(concession company).Main Contractor and designoffice: Perunding Jurutera DAHSdn Bhd (Dar Al-Handasah).Main Contractor: IJM-ZüblinJoint-Venture.Specialised Contractor:Freyssinet PSC – FreyssinetAPTO Joint-Venture.

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STRUCTURES/SUNGAI PRAI BRIDGE

A lesson of know-how

In Butterworth (Malaysia), the construction of the Sungai Prai Bridge has

mobilised the Freyssinet teams, who are working on constructionmethods as well as the supply anderecting of stay cables.

Melo in charge of the methods unitat the Freyssinet Technical Divi-sion. This will enable us to install“triple-box” spans that are 14 mwide and weighing 1,500 t, com-posed of precast segments sup-plied from the bridge deck that hasalready been laid. These are thecentral cores of the deck, and theywill receive the precast lateral can-tilevers, lowered by cranes andthen held in place with prestressedcables.

Multiple cantilevers

“The laying method used for themain span of the cable-stayedbridge is not very different”, contin-ues Fernand de Melo. The precastsegments (also three-box girders)are brought from the deck, whichhas already been built and installedby cantilever construction method,from each pylon by a portal framefixed to the deck. The stay cablesare installed and tensioned at two-segment intervals. As on the rest ofbridge, the lateral cantilevers arefixed with prestressing bars to themain structure. The segment of twoof the access ramps are laid using asecond self-launching truss thaterects the 29 spans, two sections ofwhich will span the railway tracks.

The third spiral access ramp is builton a falsework. The Prai river crossing will be on a485 m cable-stayed bridge with acentral span of 185 m. The deck issupported by 112 twin stay cables,protected by white HDPE ductsand supported at the two pylons(39m high) by single-tube devia-tion saddles. “The first stay cablewas launched on 9th October 2004,and we have 9 months to finish lay-ing the cables”, explains PascalMartin-Daguet the Freyssinet engi-neer in charge of the site. Beforethe structure is opened to traffic inJanuary 2006, to ease Butterworth’straffic woes, Freyssinet will alsohave supplied and laid bearingsand expansion joints.

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works, the project also includes theconstruction of a dual three-lane2.85 km bridge (28.8 m wide) thatwill cross the Prai River, as well as a"trumpet" interchange that willcome back to the port. The structure is made up of twoapproach bridges each comprisingten and eleven 50 m spans, a 185 mcable-stayed span and three accessramps. “We began by developing a 120 m overhead self-launchingtruss weighing 850 tonnes (see pic-ture above), that enabled us to laythe segments composed of 21spans on each side of the cable-stayed bridge”, explains Fernand de

Supported by 112 twin cable stays, the bridge that will cross the Prai river is 485 m long.


REALIZATIONS

IN VICTORIA, CENTRAL LON-DON, a group of prestigious office

buildings with avant-garde archi-tecture are under construction. Theprogram, known as Esso Glen, ismade up of two structures: one 10-storey glass building graced withcurves and the other a more classi-cal 6-storey building. “These twobuildings represent a total of50,000 m2 of post-tensioned con-crete slabs. We supplied and instal-led 320 t of 5S13 and 12K15 strandsfor this project, as well as temporaryprestressing cables (1S15) for thetransfer beams,” notes Paul Bot-tomley, Freyssinet Ltd Technical

STRUCTURES/ESSO GLEN COMPLEX IN LONDON

Post-tensioned concrete slabs gain popularity in Great Britain

Director. This site, located in theheart of the City district, is a sign ofthe current growth in the use of pre-stressing in Great Britain and Ire-land. Architects, contractors and clientshave compared the architecturaladvantages and profitability of theprocess for all types of residential orprofessional real estate projects,”explains Patrick Nagle, ManagingDirector of Freyssinet Ltd. The company has seen a sharpincrease in its projects: Freyssinet iscurrently working on the BeethamHilton, a 47-storey building underconsturction in Manchester; theBridgewater Place, a 33-storey realestate complex in Leeds; the AMSHouse, a smaller project near Lon-don; and the Ballincollig Var Parksin Cork in Ireland. ■

50,000 m2 of post-tensionedconcrete slabs have been laidin the heart of the City.

STRUCTURES/THE GUIPÚZCOA GREEN BELT

Carbon strengthening on the waterway

THE SPANISH BASQUE COUN-TRY has an unequalled supply of

hydraulic resources and experi-ences a drought each year. To find asolution to this problem, theGuipúzcoa authorities have adopt-ed a special plan based mainly onthe interconnection of the dams ofthe towns of Ibai-Eder and Barren-diola, in the Urola valley. To connect the two structures, sep-arated by a distance of 16 km, therouting that was chosen was that ofa mining railway track that was nolonger in use. The project couldtherefore use existing infrastruc-tures (11 bridges and 19 tunnels),which nevertheless had to bestrengthen and renovated. Theauthorities decided to kill two birdswith one stone by creating a “greenbelt” for cyclists and strollers allalong the route. “We won the con-

tract to rehabilitate 8 concretebridges, made up of between 1 and3 isostatic spans, making a total of17 spans since each structure had adouble-T deck that was 3.6 mwide”, explains Pedro Sancho, headof Freyssinet’s Basque countryoffice branch. The solution recommended by thedesign team was based on strength-ening the bending resistance, soeach bridge girder could withstanda tension stress of 380 kN in its cen-tre, and on strengthening the shearforce. The technical solution devel-oped by the technical departmentof Freyssinet’s Iberian-Americandivision in Madrid, is based on theuse of composite materials. TheFreyssinet teams strengthened allthe structures with 2,864 m of car-bon fibre laminates (LFC) and122.70 m of carbon fibre fabric

(TFC) of a width of 300 mm. In theplaces where the concrete wasdamaged, the steels were first pas-sivated using epoxy resin agents.After that, we applied high-per-formance thixotropic mortar andacrylic paint to protect against car-bonation. ■

PARTICIPANTS

Owner: Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa.Main Contractor:Mariezcurrena.Specialised Contractor:Freyssinet S.A.

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STRUCTURES/PLOCK BRIDGE

Three records over the vistula

The structure will be 1,200 m longincluding 585 m of access spans

and a 615 m main cable-stayedbridge with a 375 m central span.The dimensions of this bridge builtover the Vistula to the northwest ofWarsaw do not at all reflect theimportance of this project, com-bining the expertise of FreyssinetInternational and Freyssinet Polskawhich is breaking all sorts ofrecords in Poland.The main span of the bridge is thelongest ever built in the country andthe access spans, composed ofmetal, required the largest liftingoperations ever performed. Assem-bled on the ground in segments60 m-long and 27 m-wide, these600 t pieces were put into placeusing a lifting frame and hydraulicjacks and were then weldedtogether.

In the second phase of construc-tion, two 64 m-high I pylons wereinstalled and the deck of the centralspan was built by the successivecantilever construction method.The segments were brought to thesite by the river and were then liftedinto place using a SL 230 system ofcables and hydraulic jacks with atotal capacity of 4710 kN. While thesegments were being placed,Freyssinet teams installed the 56stay cables. The twin stay cables aredisposed on a central plane, “a con-figuration that brought eleganceand grace to the structure,” saysKrzysztof Berger, General Manager.Depending on their length, whichvaried from 38 to 188 m, the cablesare composed of bundles of 47 to 84strands enclosed in Mediterranean-blue, HDPE (high density polyethyl-ene) ducts.

In association with supply andinstallation of the stay cables andheavy lifting, Freyssinet was alsoinvolved in a third part of the project: installation of bearings anduse of out-of-specifications sys-tems. In this respect, the structurealso broke a third record. Of the 56bearings installed on the piers, twospherical bearings, one placed oneach of the end piers, were ofextraordinary dimensions and hada nominal capacity of 110 mN.“The final stay cable was installed

in January 2005 and the deck willbe closed when the temperaturereaches +5ºC. Construction thatnever interrupted river traffic, willnow continue until June 2005 witha reduced team responsible forfinal adjustments” concludesAndrzej Berger, the engineer.

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PARTICIPANTS

Owner: town of Plock andGeneral Road and HighwayDepartment (GDDKiA).Engineering ConsultingCompany: Pontprojekt Gdansk.General Contractor: MostyLodz S.A. and Mosty Plock -consortiumConsulting Engineer: ZBMInwestor Zastepczy Sp z.o.o.Specialised Contractor:Freyssinet Polska, in association with FreyssinetInternational.

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Construction of the PlockBridge (Poland), the biggestcable-stayed structure in the

country, began in July 2002 and willbe completed in the middle of 2005.

Freyssinet drew upon itsexpertise in heavy lifting,cable staying and structuralfitting to work on Poland’slargest cable-stayed structure.


REALIZATIONS

IN 2001, A PERIOD DURINGWHICH ALGERIA massively ren-

ovated its infrastructure, the publicworks department of the Wilaya ofOran, the country’s second largestcity, decided to build an inter-change in the eastern part of thecity. The project included severalcivil engineering structures, one ofwhich was a curved bridge with a

SOILS & STRUCTURES/THE ORAN INTERCHANGE

Openings for the construction team

By joining forces to proposea more competitive variantfor the Oran interchange in

Algeria, Freyssinet has providedReinforced Earth with theopportunity to carry out its firstretaining structure in ten years.

also have meant closing down traf-fic on a very busy stretch below thebridge.”

An intrados on a spiral

To make up for these disadvan-tages, Freyssinet and Terre ArméeSNC proposed a variant to the solu-tion consisting in launching theprecast slab-bridge and thereplacement of the hollow abut-ment with a 18 m high Freyssisolretaining wall. Structural studiesfor the bridge kicked off in 2003.“We redefined the geometry of thestructure with an intrados with aspiral to make it easy to shift”,explains Stéphane Faure, the engi-neer in charge of the works. Thefinal solution was a slab-bridgewith a constant thickness of 1 m,positioned in a circle with an aver-age radius of 56 m. The 123 mbridge has two 17 m end spans andfour 22 m central spans. “Thewhole structure represented morethan a quarter circle to shift.”remembers Stéphane Faure.

PARTICIPANTS

Owner:Direction des travaux publics(DTP) de la wilaya d’Oran.Main contractor : Seror-Tlemcen.Design and methods :Freyssinet.Specialised Contractor:Freyssinet and Terre Armée SNC.

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As the superelevation of the bridgevaried between 0 to 7% with adownhill longitudinal slope thatcould be as steep as 7%, Freyssinetopted for a flexible launching sys-tem that also had retaining charac-teristics. On site, work began withthe erecting of the piers and cre-ation of a precast area made up oftwo curved sleeper plates thatserve as a rack for the TP200 pushrams and bear the weight of thestructure. The equipment is com-pleted with a 25 m curved launch-ing, side guides on the piers andslip saddles. The construction was carried outin four sections that were assem-bled by a centred prestressing,coupled at the end of each sectionand made up of sixteen 19C15cables. After the piers had beenerected, Freyssinet fitted the bridgewith Tetron and Neoprène potbearings and expansion joints. Itthen installed the final continuityprestressing, made up of twelve19C15 cables. At the same time,Reinforced Earth supplied morethan 20 moulds for making 800Freyssisol panels. This technology,used for the first time in the coun-try by Seror, was used to build theaccess ramp to the main abutment(2,500 m2). The bridge was inaugu-rated on 24 December 2004. ■

radius of 56 m. “In 2002, the Alger-ian public enterprise Seror-Tlem-cen, who had won the contract,contacted us for assistance indesigning the bridge”, explainsHabib Merabet, head of Freyssinet’sNorth African operations. In thebeginning, the project consisted inbuilding a slab-bridge on trusseswith access ramps comprising ahollow abutment in reinforced con-crete. “However, given the height ofthe bridge piers and the ruggedlandform, this technical solutionquickly proved to be expensive,continues Habib Merabet. It would



STRUCTURES/GERRARDS CROSS PLATFORM

A supermarket on the right track

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THEFOUR HOURS during which

railroad traffic comes to a halt,PCE’s arch erection teams works onthe site in Gerrards Cross, a smalltown to the northeast of London.Every night, the team, working formain contractor Jackson Civil Engi-neering, installs 5 of the 343 piecesof the TechSpan arches that willsoon form a 320 m-long cut-and-cover tunnel above two railroadtracks. On this structure will be

built a platform upon which will risea supermarket and car park. Is thisan original way to make the most ofpreviously-unusable spaces? Notreally, according to Jon Cross, thedirector of Reinforced Earth. Hetraces this idea back to the early1960s: “As early as 1962, NorwestHolst, a VINCI subsidiary, executedground investigation for thescheme.”Now, 35 years later, another VINCIgroup subsidiary, Reinforced Earth,

In Gerrards Cross (UnitedKingdom), there wasn’tenough space for a

supermarket and a parking lot. Withthe use of TechSpan arches, both will soon be inaugurated on aplatform built over the railroad tracks.

became involved in the project. Infact, engineering consultant namedWhite Young Green approached thecompany in 1998 to assist develop-ment of a solution using a buriedprecast segmental arch system: thiswas the starting point for the Gerrards Cross project. Originally,the preliminary design called for14 m span arch to cross the existingtwin tracks Chiltern Line. “Sincethen, Jon Cross explains, the finalscheme required a much larger20 m span to allow for any futurewidening of the railway line up tofour tracks.”

Safety and environment first

From the outset, safety and theenvironment have always been thetwo key criteria guiding this high-impact project. Those living nearthe site must not be disturbed bywork performed at night. “When

we won the bid for the contract in2003, we immediately sought tooptimize the arch sections forincreased width and to limit thenumber of pieces needed to beinstalled”, describes Jon Cross. Thismade it possible to limit the equip-ment required on the site as muchas possible: a 160 t capacity cranewas sufficient for installation of thearch pieces that each weighed 23 t.”Installation began on October 10th,2004 towards the western end ofthe tunnel. At the western portal,the entrance is formed from aseries of truncated arch units tiedtogether with an in-situ concreteringbeam. The eastern portal com-prises full-height precast concreteheadwalls flanked by ReinforcedEarth TerraClass wingwalls. Thespan must also pass through thecentral span of the Packhorse road-way bridge. The continuity of thecovered span relies on 9 singlepiece precast arch units placed ontwo skew back beams. The entiretunnel structure is founded onauger bored piles.Construction is planned for com-pletion in the second quarter of2005 following backfill of the archwith 100,000 m3 of ground lime-stone. Then, all that remains is con-struction of the supermarket that isplanned to open at the end of thethird quarter. ■

PARTICIPANTS

Owner: Tesco SupermarketsProject Manager: GleedsConsulting Engineer: WhiteYoung GreenMain Contractor: Jackson CivilEngineeringArch Construction: PCE LtdSpecialised Contractor:Reinforced Earth Company Ltd

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O U R P R O F E S S I O N

A PROTECTIVE CURRENT TO STOP CORROSION

tion of concrete may come fromtwo main causes: chlorides (whenthe structure is exposed to a saltyatmosphere) or carbonation (devel-opment of calcium carbonate dueto the transformation of the atmos-pheric carbon dioxide reducing thepH of the concrete). “Our first task,therefore, is to establish a diagno-sis, explains Jim Preston, director ofCCSL. We do this either when weare asked to do so directly by aclient who has observed a deterio-ration in a concrete structure, or asa subcontractor when a consultanthas already recommended thatcathodic protection be carried out. Whatever the operation scheduleand the nature of the corrosion,CCSL has a solution in the vastoffering that it has managed todevelop in less than ten years (thecompany was created in 1996) notonly for the treatment of existingstructures, but also for new con-struction: cathodic protection forreinforced concrete, buildings withsteel frames and submerged struc-tures in marine environments suchas pipelines, etc.. CCSL works inthe four corners of the world (it is

currently in the United Kingdom,Ireland, Hong Kong, Croatia andSaudi Arabia) and has thus col-lected valuable data about struc-tures that have received this type oftreatment. This enables it to offerits clients reliable and proven solu-tions.“Demand for this technique goes asfar back as the 1980s, continues JimPreston, and we can say that it liter-ally exploded at that time. The prin-

In specialised civil engineering,some professions can be under-

stood at a glance while othersrequire greater insight. This seemsto be the case with the team of aBritish subsidiary of FreyssinetGroup, the CCSL Company (Corro-sion Control Services Ltd). “Thesame operations are always used incathodic protection (see box),declares Ian Spring, technicaldirector of CCSL. Our first task is toconnect cables to the concretereinforcement and to check it’selectrical continuity. We can theninstall an anode that can come indifferent forms depending on therequirement. We also install moni-toring electrodes and connect allthese elements to an electrical cab-inet.” After the current (usuallywith a voltage of less than 12 V) hasbeen established, treatment fol-lows immediately and CCSL cantrack performance from its officesin Telford, using remote devices.Although it is increasingly appliedas a preventive treatment for newstructures, cathodic protectioncontinues to be used more forrepair works, where the deteriora-

Cl-

Cl-

Cl-

Penetration of ions from

the anode

THE PRINCIPLE OF CATHODIC PROTECTION

Metal reinforcement

(reinforced steel)Concrete

Electrodes

Power supply (cabinet)

Direction of electron flow

Remote surveillance

system (computer)

Cl-

ANODE

An electrolytic process The environment for steel reinforcement that is provided by good qualityconcrete is of high alkalinity. Provided this environment is maintained, thesteel will remain passive and no corrosion will take place. Corrosion is aprocess of electrochemical deterioration. The infiltration of impurities intoconcrete (for example atmospheric carbon dioxide) disrupts the chemicalbalance and reduces the pH of the material. Chloride ingress to the steel willalso result in depassivation. Upon contact with water and oxygen, metalatoms are ripped from the surface, lose electrons and are ionised. The metalbecomes polarised, forming one or several macro-batteries on its surface.The resulting electrical field erodes the metal at the anode (pits). Such lossof elements results in what is known as corrosion. To neutralise and stop thisprocess, the metal is transformed into a cathode. This can be accomplishedeither by running a weak impressed continuous electric current through themetal or by connecting it to a galvanic anode, a different metal that will cor-rode more readily than iron and create an electron flow that enables to fightthe charges to which the reinforcements are submitted: that is cathodic pro-tection using sacrificial anode.

ciple is, however, much olderbecause it began with the work ofHumphrey Davy in 1824. We there-fore did not invent anything newand only adapted a long-establishedengineering technique to the prob-lems of our modern materials.” ■

Once the titanium anode isinstalled, the installers makethe electric connections.

1

2


One of the 5 cable-stayed bridges on the A4 motorway.

In May 1995, a year after Polandapplied for membership to the

European Union, Freyssinet Inter-national opened a technical infor-mation office in Warsaw, under themanagement of Krzysztof Berger,an engineer of public works. Fouryears on and after many successes(external prestressing of the GóraKalwaria bridge, strengthening ofthe silos in Werbkowice, Brzeg andBodaczów, etc.), they consolidatedtheir advantage with the creationof the limited liability companyFreyssinet Polska SP. Z o.o.That was how the success story ofthe 33-employee subsidiary began.“We started off with Freyssinet’s tra-ditional areas of expertise, explainsKrzysztof Berger, General Managerof Freyssinet Polska since 1999, andwe gradually added ReinforcedEarth and soil treatment activitiesto our offering. Consequently, ourimage has changed considerablyand we are now recognisedthroughout the country as one of

C O M P A N Y

FREYSSINET POLSKACONFIRMS ITSBREAKTHROUGH

For six years now, Freyssinet Polskahas made a name for itself in Polandthanks to a dynamic and efficientteam and by marking each year withan important achievement.

the unavoidable players in the spe-cialised civil engineering business.” This small subsidiary’s reputationis concretely illustrated in presti-gious projects that it has carried offin barely 6 years: construction offive cable-stayed bridges over theA4 motorway in 1999; incrementallaunching of the bridges of theCzerniakowski interchange in War-saw in 2002; the cable-stayedbridges of Wolin and Poznan in2003; the Plock bridge on the Visulatoday (see page 24). In 2003, thesesuccesses, and the efforts behind

them, were crowned with theGazela Biznesu prize (Businessprize) awarded by the magazinePuls Biznesu to investors, designoffices or civil engineering compa-nies for their dynamism, resultsand commitment to sustainabledevelopment.

An active support fromFreyssinet Belgium

In the Group and in terms of organ-isation, Freyssinet Polska isattached to the Northern Europedivision, which includes the UnitedKingdom, the Benelux and theScandinavian countries. “There are

a lot of synergies between the vari-ous companies within the division,says Krzysztof Berger. In 1999,when the works sites of the A4motorway began just a few daysafter the company had been cre-ated, we received a lot of supportfrom Freyssinet Belgium, and par-ticularly Claude Mortier who sentseveral technicians to work withour teams. However, this culture ofexchange and support is not limit-ed to the regional level: it contin-ues, for instance with FreyssinetFrance on the bridges in Plock,Wroclaw, Warszawa and is cur-rently being developed in soils.” ■

Name: Freyssinet Polska Sp.z.o.o.Address: Poland, 05-822Milanówek, ul. Mala 5, tél./fax: + 48 22 724 43 55/56.2004 Turnover:4,5 M€.Number of employees: 27.General manager: Krzysztof Berger.

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THE COMPANY IN BRIEF

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Successive launching of bridges over the Czerniakowski crossroads in Varsovia.

Headed by par Krzysztof Berger (on the left side) (3), the company is divided into five divisions: the Works division, directed by Andrzej Kandybowicz 3,which is made up of two engineers, Piotr Beczek and Andrzej Berger 2, and three team leaders, Sylwester Ostafinski, Grzegorz Hrynczyszyn and TomaszCieplucha; the logistics division with Zofia Krawczyc and Katarzyna Wlódarczyk (9) the Marketing department, with Lucjan Talma (10) and Anna Marjanska (4); the Accounting Division with Pawe_ Skrzypczak and Karolina Wudarczyk (6); the soil improvement business headed by ArkadiuszFranków (5) and composed of an engineer Adam Syzdól (1) and a project designer, Marta Sierocinska (11) for Reinforced Earth activity, Jakub Saloni (7)for Ménard Soltraitement. The company also employs a warehouse manager Dariusz Kwiatkowski (8) and a maintenance mechanic, Krzysztof Szkop.


INNOVATIONI N N O V A T I O N

THE PARASEISMICDEVIATOR (PSD)

The Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge,which is located on the Gulf of

Corinth (Greece), one of the mainareas for seismic activities on theplanet, was built to resist earth-quakes that measure 7 on theRichter scale without sustainingdamages. In charge of supplyingand installing the stay cables,Freyssinet developed a new protec-tion system in collaboration withVINCI Construction Grands Projetsto confront this problem.

Prevent bending

“The bridge is in complete suspen-sion”, explains Benoît Lecinq, Tech-nical Manager of Freyssinet. “Incase of earthquakes, it swings lon-gitudinally by approximately 2m,completely relieving the stay cablesof stress or inversely, causing largeamounts of over-stressing. ThePSD was created to prevent angularbreakage of the stay cables whenthey leave their anchor tubes onthe pylons and the deck.”

“In the event of an earthquake, thePSD limits the curving imposed onthe strands until the stay cable isload is fully eliminated. The com-bined traction and bending con-straints do not exceed the elasticlimits of the strands, “and this is thecase until an angular deviation ofalmost 10° occurs”, specifies BenoîtLecinq.The PSD, which is the result of aclose technical collaborationbetween the technical departmentteams of Freyssinet and VINCIConstruction Grands Projets,passed the lateral load resistancetests at the test division ofFreyssinet’s Technical department,based in the Group’s factory atChalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire).“Moreover”, stresses Benoît Lecinq,“we had to draw up the technicalspecifications for the system, madeout of polyurethane reinforcedwith steel tubes to mass-producethe 368 pairs of PSDs that equippedthe bridge”. This production was

A prestigious applicationThe 368 stay cables of the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge measuringbetween 75 and 292m, benefit from the Freyssinet system: indi-vidual anchors, individual anticorrosion protection, individualinstallation and tensioning (or eventually, re-tensioning). Theworking end of the cable consists of a parallel beam of 40 to 75strands, individually protected by galvanisation. A petroleum waxfills the spaces between the wires. Each strand is threaded into awhite co-extruded HDPE sheath.

ANCHORAGE

STUFFING BOX PARASEISMIC DEVIATOR DAMPER

FORMWORK TUBE HDPE TUBES GUIDE TUBE

ANCHORAGE

STUFFING BOX PARASEISMIC DEVIATOR

FORMWORK TUBEHDPE TUBES

DAMPER COLLAR

closely monitored using a processof numbering with electronic chipsburied in the resin thus ensuringcomplete traceability. The same thing was done for theinstallation of the system to make itas flexible as possible. “During thedevelopment, we gathered theopinions of users, especially that ofDavid Grattepanche, in charge ofinstalling the stay cables on the

bridge”, explains Jean-Pierre Mes-sein, engineer of the Freyssinet’sTechnical Department. With theinformation obtained, we wereable to decide that it was preferableto insert the PSDs into the anchortubes well before threading thecables.” This system also facilitatedthe task of threading the strandsand significantly reduced installa-tion time. ■

The stay cables on structuresexposed to seismic activities mustbe protected at the anchors.


H I S T O R Y

Since the 1930s the Russians hadbeen using a process similar to

that of pounding piles, i.e. releasinga mass of one or two tonnes from a height of five to six metres, At theend of the 1960s Louis Ménard, a director of a design office at thetime came up with the idea of making the soil denser at greatdepths by using very high energywaves. He revolutionized this tech-nique by developing new tools thatmade it possible to go higher and topound with even more strength todeeply consolidate and solidifylarge tracts of land.

Louis Ménard patented hisprocess and not long there-

after, obtained his first contract, tosolidify a 400 m2 platform atBormes-les-Mimosas in the south ofFrance. Menard offered the contrac-tor a solution in which a 10-t masswas released from a height of 10 mwith standard crawler-mountedcranes. That was the beginning ofdynamic compaction.

The soil solidifying practiceat the Cofaz factory in

Havre (Seine-Maritime) used fivecranes and became the ultimatereference. Louis Ménard becamerecognised as an entrepreneur. Tooptimise the performance of the

process and to reduce costs, theyoung company launched a new16-t mass to be released from aheight of 25 m. At the same time,the field of application for theprocess, until then reserved forsandy soil, was extended to clayland. This was made possible byusing a new technique derived fromdynamic compaction, dynamicreplacement, in which ballast wasadded to the soil to give it moreconsistency.

The company was con-sulted to solidify the off-

shore soil of Brest harbour, wherenuclear submarines were to berepaired. Once again, the engineers

revealed their creativity andinstalled a standard crane with a“chip-cutter” mass of 10 tonnesmounted onto a barge. Acceptingchallenges that were always moreaudacious, the sites of SantoDomingo and Los Angeles in 1975led the company into making itsown equipment: tripods capable ofreleasing 40-t masses from heightsof 40 m at a rate of 20 pounds perhour. To lift the mass, a system of 3 m-rise hydraulic jacks wereinstalled. This equipment was effi-cient, but was too slow and in 1976the company decided to create anew kind of machine. This machinecould be completely dismantledand transported. It could lift a 40-t

DYNAMICCOMPACTION: APRINCIPLECONSOLIDATEDBY INNOVATIONDynamic compaction is the first process proposed by Ménard Soltraitementthirty years ago and it is stillused for the foundation of buildings and bridges, andto stabilize large surfaces of backfill or loose soil. Whilethe principle of the techniquehave not changed, installationmethods have been modifiedconsiderably and arecontinuously being refined..Here’s an example.

1973

1970

1974

1973

1990

1974

Eben site in Austria.

Offshore consolidation, Ostenfeld (Sweden).

Kansai airport platform in Osaka (Japan).


HISTORY

mass to 25 m and could be operatedon solid ground and off-shorebecause of its two opposing arms. Itproved not easy to manage, andwas used on only two sites, one ofwhich was in Uddevalla , Sweden.

The develop-ment continues:

Ménard developed a new underwa-ter dynamic compaction systemwith hydraulic linear winches thatcould release 40-t masses from aheight of 10 m.The magnitude of this innovationculminated in the solidifying of theplatform of Nice airport (1978): acrane transported on 168 wheelsand equipped with a 1,500 horse-

power winch (7 km of hydraulichose), capable of lifting a 200-tmass to a height of 20 m (heightlimit set by the airport authorities)was created and, equipped with adevice that adjusted the centre ofgravity with each release. “Sixmonths were necessary to set upthe crane on the site. A great deal ofthis period was taken to assemblethe mass, comprised of sheets ofsteel, stacked and fixed with a 600kg nut that needed to be tightened…with a bulldozer”, recalled Jean-Marie Cognon, Operating managerof the company at the time. Thedeath of Louis Ménard in that sameyear marked the beginning of a newapproach to dynamic compaction,

where the use of greater masses andheights was no longer viewed as“the” solution to improve efficiency.

Traditional or non-standard cranes

used up to that time gave way tosimple but computerized machinesused exclusively for dynamic com-paction. A winch made up of twoperpendicular beams, that lifted amass of 25 to 30 t to a height of 25 mand a booth, was assembled in onlytwo days instead of the weekrequired for the old systems.The tripods were only used on twosites, Osaka (Japan) and in HongKong, but almost immediately , theywer further developed to lift the

mass in one go with an enormousjack (1.4 m3 of oil).

The technique crossed afurther barrier with the

implementation of the Marsprocess (Mass Release System – S&Sno. 220) developed by Jean-ClaudeMorizot, R&D Director of the com-pany: an automatic mass releaseprocess of the mass which enabledeven heavier loads to be used with-out losing efficiency previouslylinked to cable friction (generally30% to 40% ) This innovation pro-duced an optimised energy of com-paction. ■

Tripod, Gold Monument site (South Africa).

1977 and 1978

1980/19902004

1995 2002

2003 20041977

1978 1985

Corbas Platform, Lyon(France).

Mars Process, Al Quo’a (Emirate of Abu Dhabi).

A89 road motorway, Brive (France).

Birkenfeld site (Germany).

Nice airport (France).

New generation of 700 t/m dynamic compaction cranes.


Africa andmiddle-East

EgyptFreyssinet EgyptGizaPhone: (20.2) 345 81 65Fax: (20.2) 345 52 37

KuwaitFreyssinet International & Co.SafatPhone: (965) 906 7854Fax: (965) 563 5384

South AfricaFreyssinet Posten Pty LtdOlifantsfonteinPhone: (27.11) 316 21 74Fax: (27.11) 316 29 18

Reinforced Earth Pty LtdJohannesburgPhone : (27.11) 726 6180Fax : (27.11) 726 5908

United Arab EmiratesFreyssinet Middle East LLCDubaiPhone: (971) 4 286 8007Fax: (971) 4 286 8009

Freyssinet Gulf LLCDubaiPhone: (971) 4 286 8007Fax: (971) 4 286 8009

America

ArgentinaFreyssinetTierra Armada SABuenos AiresPhone: (54.11) 4372 7291Fax: (54.11) 4372 5179

BrazilTerra Armada LtdaRio de JaneiroPhone: (55.21) 2233 7353Fax: (55.21) 2263 4842

CanadaReinforced Earth CompanyLtdMississaugaPhone: (1.905) 564 0896Fax: (1.905) 564 2609

ChileTierra Armada S.ASantiago de ChilePhone: (56.2) 2047 543Fax: (56.2) 225 1608

ColombiaStup de ColombiaBogotaPhone: (57.1) 236 3786Fax: (57.1) 610 3898

Tierra Armada LtdaBogotaPhone : (57.1) 236 3786Fax : (57.1) 610 3898

El SalvadorFessic SA de CVLa LibertadPhone: (503) 278 8603Fax: (503) 278 0445

GuatemalaPresforzados Técnicos SAGuatemala CityPhone: (502) 2204 236Fax: (502) 2500 150

MexicoFreyssinet de México SA de CVMexico DFPhone: (52.55) 5250 7000Fax: (52.55) 5255 0165

Tierra Armada SA de CVMexico DFPhone: (52.55) 5250 7000Fax: (52.55) 5255 0165

United StatesDGI - MenardBridgeville, PAPhone: (1.412) 257 2750Fax: (1.412) 257 8455

Freyssinet LLCChantilly, VAPhone: (1.703) 378 2500Fax: (1.703) 378 2700

The Reinforced EarthCompanyVienna, VAPhone: (1.703) 821 1175Fax: (1.703) 821 1815

VenezuelaFreyssinetTierra Armada CACaracas DFPhone: (58.212) 576 6685Fax: (58.212) 577 7570

Asia

Hong KongFreyssinet Hong Kong LtdKwung Tong - KowloonPhone: (852) 2794 0322Fax: (852) 2338 3264

ReinforcedEarth Pacific LtdKwung TongPhone: (852) 2782 3163Fax: (852) 2332 5521

IndonesiaPT Freyssinet Total TechnologyJakartaPhone: (62.21) 830 0222Fax: (62.21) 830 9841

JapanFKKTokyoPhone: (81.3) 5220 2181Fax: (81.3) 5220 9726

TAKKTokyoPhone: (81.44) 722 6361Fax: (81.44) 722 3133

MalaysiaFreyssinetPSC (M) Sdn BhdKuala LumpurPhone: (60.3) 7982 85 99Fax: (60.3) 7981 55 30

Ménard Geosystems Sdn BhdSubang Jaya SelangorPhone: (60.3) 5632 1581Fax: (60.3) 5632 1582

Reinforced EarthManagement Services SdnBhdKuala LumpurPhone: (60.3) 6274 6162Fax: (60.3) 6274 7212

PakistanReinforced Earth Pvt LtdIslamabadPhone: (92.51) 2273 501Fax: (92.51) 2273 503

SingaporePSC Freyssinet (S) Pte LtdSingaporePhone: (65) 6899 0323Fax: (65) 6899 0761

Reinforced Earth (SEA) Pte LtdSingaporePhone: (65) 6316 6401Fax: (65) 6316 6402

South KoreaFreyssinet Korea Co. LtdSeoulPhone: (82.2) 2056 0500Fax: (82.2) 515 4185

Sangjee Ménard Co. LtdSeoulPhone: (82.2) 587 9286Fax: (82.2) 587 9285

ThailandFreyssinet Thailand LtdBangkokPhone: (66.2) 266 6088/90Fax: (66.2) 266 6091

VietnamFreyssinet VietnamHanoiPhone: (84.4) 826 1416Fax: (84.4) 826 1118

Europe

BelgiumFreyssinet Belgium NVVilvoordePhone: (32.2) 252 0740Fax: (32.2) 252 2443

Terre Armee Belgium NVVilvoordePhone: (32.2) 252 0740Fax: (32.2) 252 2443

DenmarkA/S SkandinaviskSpaendbetonVaerlosePhone: (45.44) 35 08 11Fax: (45.44) 35 08 10

FranceFreyssinet FranceVélizyPhone: (33.1) 46 01 84 84Fax: (33.1) 46 01 85 85

FreyssinetInternational & CieVélizyPhone: (33.1) 46 01 84 84Fax: (33.1) 46 01 85 85

Ménard SoltraitementNozayPhone: (33.1) 69 01 37 38Fax: (33.1) 69 01 75 05

PPCSaint-RemyPhone: (33.3) 85 42 15 15Fax: (33.3) 85 42 15 14

Terre Armée SNCVélizyPhone: (33.1) 46 01 84 84Fax: (33.1) 46 01 85 85

FyromFreyssinet BalkansSkopjePhone: (389.2) 3118 549Fax: (389.2) 3118 549

GermanyMenard Dyniv GmbHSeevetalPhone: (49) 4105 66 480Fax: (49) 4030 23 98 25

Bewehrte ErdeSeevetalPhone: (49) 4105 66 48 16Fax: (49) 4105 66 48 66

Great-BritainCorrosion ControlServices LtdTelfordPhone: (44.1952) 230 900Fax: (44.1952) 230 960

Freyssinet LtdTelfordPhone: (44.1952) 201 901Fax: (44.1952) 201 753

ReinforcedEarth Company LtdTelfordPhone: (44.1952) 201 901Fax: (44.1952) 201 753

HungaryPannon Freyssinet KftBudapestPhone: (36.1) 209 1510Fax: (36.1) 209 1510

IrelandReinforced EarthCompany Ireland (Ltd)KildarePhone: (353) 45 431 088Fax: (353) 45 433 145

ItalyFreyssinetTerra Armata SRLRomePhone: (39.06) 418 771Fax: (39.06) 418 77 201

NetherlandsFreyssinet Nederland BVWaddinxveenPhone: (31.18) 2630 888Fax: (31.18) 2630 152

Terre Armée BVBredaPhone: (31.76) 531 9332Fax: (31.76) 531 9943

NorwayA/S SkandinaviskSpennbetongSnarøyaPhone/fax : (47.67) 53 91 74

PolandFreyssinet Polska Sp z.o.o.MilanówekPhone: (48.22) 724 4355Fax: (48.22) 724 6893

PortugalFreyssinet - Terra ArmadaLisbonPhone: (351.21) 716 1675Fax: (351.21) 716 4051

RoumaniaFreyrom SABucharestPhone: (40.21) 220 2828Fax: (40.21) 220 4541

RussiaFreyssinetMoscowPhone: (7 095) 7475 179Fax: (7 095) 7475 179

SpainFreyssinet SAMadridPhone: (34.91) 323 9500Fax: (34.91) 323 9551

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