Week of 24 April
1. Schieburg Tunnel: VIP visit to encourage the teams (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)
The Luxembourg Minister of Mobility and Public Works, François Bausch, visited the Schieburg Tunnel construction site last Thursday, managed by our colleagues from Lux TP. The Schieburg railway tunnel has been unusable since last summer following a tunnel collapse, and the work to be carried out by our colleagues is enormous. The major challenge is to stabilise the large mass of rock elements embedded above the tunnel. A series of drilling works, concrete injections, and verification by core sampling of the effectiveness of these same injections have been ongoing since the incident. We wish our colleagues success in these delicate rehabilitation works!
2. Lanaye lock: a new milestone reached (Belgium)
A significant milestone was achieved last week: the removal of the cofferdam of Lock No.3 in Lanaye was completed, and the lock is now underwater again. First, our teams removed the first element of the cofferdam downstream of the lock, then filled the lock chamber, and finally removed the last element of the cofferdam upstream of the lock.
As a reminder, cofferdams are watertight structures designed to facilitate interventions in areas which are normally submerged. The cofferdams are installed in the work area, and water is pumped out to expose the bed of the body of water so that work can be done in a dry environment. In this case, the teams were carrying out renovation works, mainly on the electromechanical equipment of Lock No.3.
3. White smoke on Dubai Waste-to-Energy (UAE)
You’re not dreaming: there’s smoke coming out of the plant. What you see here is steam-blowing in progress as our partner Hitachi is proceeding with process readiness activity, ahead of the “first firing” planned for this week!
The first tests are encouraging and we are delighted to witness yet another significant milestone on one of the world’s largest waste-to-energy projects. As our team is tirelessly working with our Consortium and Client partners around the clock, to bring this ambitious project closer to completion.
4. Mens sana in corpore sano... (Belgium, UK)
Sunday 23 April was marked by sporting challenges for our colleagues. No less than 44 of them took part in the Antwerp 10 Miles, a 16-kilometre race through the Belgian city. It was a great challenge and a testament to their determination. On the same day, but several hundred kilometres away, Fabian Boucher from the Engineering Department ran the London Marathon, one of the most famous and prestigious marathons in the world with over 40,000 participants each year. Well done to all for their energy and motivation!
And then this… 940 kg less waste in the Ottignies river (Belgium)
On Sunday, April 23, BESIX Foundation volunteers, together with teams from other organisations, successfully cleaned up the Ottignies river, hauling away a trailer full of trash weighing an astounding 940 kg! Around fifteen BESIX volunteers, parents and children, enthusiastically participated in this community-led event, determined to take care of the environment. The whole team collected 300 kg of wet wipes, 29 discarded tires, 160 kg of wood, and 360 plastic bottles.
Well done dear colleagues! Stay updated on upcoming activities if you want to participate, by following the BESIX Foundation news.
