22. July 2022
Grand Paris Low Carbon Rails
Grand Paris Express: the installation of the first “low carbon” rails on lines 16 and 17 has begun
The rails of the first section of these two future metro lines will be made of 95% recycled steel, melted using an electric arc rather than a blast furnace, to improve the carbon footprint of this major metropolitan project.
The rails are first welded to form 105-meter-long sets, before being laid on sleepers that will then be cast in concrete. (Léo Da Veiga)
By Leo Da Veiga
Published on June 30, 2022 at 4:21 p.m. Updated on June 30, 2022 at 4:22 p.m.
In just five minutes, the enormous electric welder brings the two ends of these 18-metre-long rails to 2,200 degrees, their melting temperature. Once welded, the machine injects pressurised air to “quench” the weld.
The laying of the tracks for the future lines 16 and 17 of the Grand Paris Express began on 29 June, between the future Saint-Denis Pleyel station and the Finot structure in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis), its rear station which will allow the metro to turn around.
Commissioning at the end of 2026
This new stage marks the end of civil engineering work on the Saint-Denis Pleyel-Le Bourget RER section, and in particular the construction of 2.6 kilometres of tunnel between Saint-Ouen and Aubervilliers. By August, the 100 workers on this part of the construction site will have welded 3,400 linear metres of rails for this first section of the line, laid them on the sleepers and will be able to begin concreting the first 850 metres of double tracks on lines 16 and 17, the first part of the six kilometres of section shared by these two metros.
As the Finot structure is located in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic Village, all the worksites on the site must be completed before the 2024 Games. An acceleration is therefore planned with the arrival on the site of the Sarah tunnel boring machine at the end of the year, where it will complete 2.4 kilometers of the future tunnel of line 15.
“Low carbon” rails
All these stages are part of the same transport system contract, awarded to the TSO-Eiffage Rail consortium at the end of 2021. A major first for the Grand Paris Express, this entire contract, which also includes three sections of line 15 south, is made of “low carbon” rails.
Made of 95% recycled steel and melted using an electric arc rather than in the blast furnaces of the traditional sector, they save 1.4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of rail delivered. In total, 6,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent will be avoided thanks to these rails on this contract.
This innovation is made possible as part of the Innovation Reverse Carbon Initiative, launched by the Société du Grand Paris in October 2021 with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from its construction sites by 25%. In concrete terms, it awards bonuses to companies that win its contracts if they implement innovations that reduce polluting emissions from construction sites (up to 100 euros per tonne of CO2
avoided). 1.5 million euros have already been awarded in this regard on contracts already awarded.
Leo Da Veiga
Communiqué de presse
Useful link :