Week of 22 August
1. Let’s push it! (Belgium)
In Hondelange (Belgium), our colleagues from Socogetra achieved a major milestone on their railway project for Infrabel. They installed a piece of the railway line 167, which consists of a concrete slab equipped with tracks, railroad ties and a track ballast layer (or in other words: a fully equipped railway track). The piece is no less than 520 meters long, 4 meters wide and weighs 2,200 tonnes.
However, it aren’t these figures that make the milestone impressive, it’s the method they used that is quite unique. The new railway line was first constructed next to the existing line before being pushed into its place with the help of 16 hydraulic cylinders. An extremely precise operation considering the length of the line! Thanks to this method, which is only being used for the fourth time in the Walloon region, the disruption of train traffic was reduced to the bare minimum. Congratulations, team Socogetra!
2. A skyline for Rail Baltica (Latvia)
In the Latvian capital, Riga, the consortium BERERIX, consisting of BESIX, Rizzani de Echer and SIA RERE BŪVE, are realising the Rail Baltica Central Station project. The works include a new central station building, as well as a major railway bridge on the Daugava river, the railway embankments and track works. As the works proceed, some art along the project is also becoming visible. On the concrete wall that will bear the new viaduct leading to the station, the skyline of Riga is being displayed. A nice local touch, as you can see in the picture below!
3. The awards keep coming for BESIX Watpac (Australia)
BESIX Watpac has already received multiple awards for several of their projects this year (e.g. the STARS hospital), but it doesn’t stop with those! This week, they were also awarded the Master Builders prize for the region South Australia in the category ‘Commercial Refurbishment/Redevelopment over $5 million’. They received the prize thanks to their excellent redevelopment of the Underdale High School in Adelaide. The organisation praised them for their good planning and organisation that ensured that “the construction and refurbishment happened seamlessly in a live school environment”. Apart from that, the finishes were applauded as they were of “an exceptionally high standard with a flawless integration between old and new”. Congratulations!
4. Circularity with Vanhout (Belgium)
In Antwerp, our subsidiary Vanhout is currently rehabilitating the Fierensblokken, an old social housing complex that is now being transformed in a mix of 122 apartments, commercial spaces, a courtyard and rooftop gardens. The teams are making great progress, as can be witnessed in the pictures below, and the end result is becoming visible more and more every day. The project is also a great example in terms of circularity, as a lot of original elements (e.g. floors, inner doors...) are being preserved. Good luck with the last stretch, team!
And then this… English class for non-English speakers (Georgia)
In Poti, Georgia, our teams are working on the extension of the seaport, which includes a 400-metre quay and an 1,800-metre breakwater. Some of the local workers have expressed a desire to learn English. This is fortunate, as one of the facilities management staff on the project, Ms Eka, is a qualified English teacher. As you can see below, Ms Eka gave her first voluntary lesson this week to half a dozen motivated workers. Happy ‘Back to School’ to these enthusiastic students and to their volunteer teacher!
