Week of 8 August
1. Prefabricated beams for new viaduct (The Netherlands)
We have told you several times about the Rottemeren tunnel and the Terbregseplein viaduct that our colleagues from BESIX NL are building on the new section of the A16 motorway. But these are not the only civil engineering works we are building. On the weekend of 30 and 31 July, our colleagues laid the prefabricated beams for the K50 structure, the new viaduct crossing the President Roosevelt Avenue. You will see this in the photos below. Congrats to our BESIX NL colleagues for this great achievement.
The K50 structure was designed by BESIX Engineering, which is the case for six viaducts and bridges and the 2.2-kilometre tunnel. The A16 Rotterdam is a new 11-kilometre energy-neutral motorway, which will significantly improve the accessibility of Rotterdam and the flow of traffic in the north of the city.
2. A marine infrastructure to build a tunnel (Belgium)
In Zeebrugge, the COTU teams are preparing a port infrastructure where an Antwerp tunnel will be built. Sounds strange, doesn't it? And yet it is perfectly true. The idea is to build the eight sections of the 1,800-metre Scheldt Tunnel in Zeebrugge, float them and tow them via the North Sea and the Scheldt to their destination, Antwerp, where they will be immersed. In Zeebrugge, our colleagues are currently building a bentonite cement wall to dry out a construction dock. Pumping of groundwater from the dock will start in September, after which it will be excavated. In early 2023, construction of the eight tunnel sections can begin. Finally, when the tunnel sections are ready, the construction dock will be opened to fill with water. The sections will float, and towing can begin. As you can imagine, the next few months will be fascinating! We wish our teams and their partners all the best.
Our colleague Dieter Van Parys talks about it in this video (in Dutch).
3. Africa's second tallest man-made structure (Morocco)
Our colleagues from BESIX Morocco have reached the top of the Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat. The skyscraper is now 250 metres high. With the installation of the last steel beam at the top of the tower, our teams marked the completion of the structural work, which has required 14,000 tonnes of steel. Congratulations to all our colleagues and departments who have been involved in this project since the beginning. We are now looking forward to the next stage of the work, including the evolution of the façade, which is currently under construction. The Mohammed VI Tower is an architectural jewel, and the result will be stunning!
Did you know? By reaching the top of the tower, we have just achieved the second tallest man-made structure on the African continent – just behind the Iconic Tower in Egypt, which topped out in 2021 and will in turn be surpassed by the F Tower we are currently building in Abidjan.
4. First safety milestone in Poti (Georgia)
In Poti, Georgia, our colleagues are using a collaborative and behavioural method to further strengthen the focus on site safety. Each month, a few workers are selected for their attitude and positive contribution to safety policies. A ceremony is organised with the whole team, and sometimes even the client. Each awarded worker receives a certificate and a small reward! A small and simple way to add an extra layer to the many existing initiatives to boost safety on site. Congrats to the role-models of this month.
And then this… Draw me a house, fast (Belgium)
In June, 5 students worked for CIRCL as part of the "Open Summer of Code" project. Their objective was to research a solution that would allow ultra-fast 3D visualisation in a browser, so that CIRCL buyers could imagine and configure their future home entirely in 3D. CIRCL is a Vanhout initiative that focuses on simplified digital home design and construction. The construction process combines techniques of industrialisation, off-site production, uniformity, and circularity.
Want to know more about CIRCL? Visit the company's website!
