Week of 24 January
1. Building bridges, on water, on land (Belgium)
The past few days have provided a good illustration of our group's capabilities in engineering and building bridges in Belgium.
- On the Brussels ring road, the motorway that surrounds Brussels, BESIX is building a 168-metre bridge that will accommodate the F202 cycling highway, linking the European capital to the city of Leuven. During the night of Saturday to Sunday, our colleagues reached an important milestone with the installation of the first two segments of the bridge. This required the closure of the Brussels ring road from 9pm to 7am, an extremely rare measure for this major road in the country. As expected, our colleagues carried out this delicate operation brilliantly! And it's not over yet: the next 4 segments will be installed on 5 February and 12 February. Congrats to our colleagues and all the best for the next stages!
- Meanwhile, a consortium with Agidens Infra Automation was installing Europe's largest swing bridge in the port of Zeebrugge. This is a special bridge that was engineered by Agidens Infra Automation. The solution consists of a central lifting and turning mechanism that is able to lift this 2,200 ton bridge and turn it by 90 degrees in 150 seconds. A little gem of engineering!
2. The Convention Center is taking shape (Ivory Coast)
Our colleagues from BESIX Ivory Coast in Abidjan have just reached an important milestone. They have lifted and installed the last part of the metal structure of the façade of the Abidjan Convention Centre. This masterpiece can be seen in the pictures below that they sent us. It is a splendid work: kudos to all. The next challenge of the site is to raise the dome structure to an altitude of almost 40 metres and install it in its exact location. This is going to be challenging and we can't wait to see the pictures of this extraordinary operation. Good luck!
3. The upstream lock gate installed (Belgium)
The joint venture BESIX-Franki is in charge of the renovation of the third lock of the Lanaye lock complex, an infrastructure of 136 by 16 metres. On 17 January, with their subcontractor John Cockerill, they reached a new milestone with the lifting and installation of the lock's upstream gate. You can see the impressive operation below. Well done!
BESIX knows the site well. In 2016 we delivered the brand new fourth lock of the complex, a massive 225 by 25 metres with a 14 metre drop. It was then the largest civil engineering project in Wallonia for over ten years.
4. The excellence of BESIX Watpac in Victoria (Australia)
The Master Builders Association of Victoria has awarded BESIX Watpac its Excellence in Construction for Commercial Buildings over 80 million dollars for the delivery of the Deakin University Law School building in Melbourne. The building is particularly impressive, both for its external architecture and the quality of the state-of-the-art facilities inside. A jewel for law students. This building designed and built by BESIX Watpac also scored highly in terms of sustainability with a 5-Star Green Star Rating. Congrats to all the BESIX Watpac teams in Victoria!
And then this... The Red Oak (Latvia)
This is the story of a fifty-ton tree that is about three stories high. It was planted in 1964 when the bus station in central Riga was opened. However, the Red Oak could not stay where it was with the development of the new central city station that BESIX and its partners are currently building. Rather than cut down this iconic tree, an agreement was reached between all stakeholders: the tree was moved and replanted elsewhere, away from the construction site, on the night of 19th to 20th January. An unusual operation, but now the Riga Red Oak is saved. Well done to all teams!
