Week of 9 May
1. Two milestones in Paris (France)
Our colleagues from BESIX France in charge of the construction of the Saint-Denis Pleyel metro station in Paris have completed two milestones! The first is the delivery of the priority technical spaces and the second is the installation and assembly of the façade prototype, which you can discover below. The architecture of the building was created by Kengo Kuma, a world-class Japanese architect. Congratulations to BESIX France for the progress made on the site. Keep up the good work!
Saint-Denis Pleyel, which will be one of the largest stations of the Grand Paris Express, will accommodate 250,000 passengers daily and will serve the site of the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. With a surface area of 34,000 m², it has 9 levels, including 4 below ground. While BESIX is in charge of the construction, our client Société du Grand Paris has chosen the Belgian artist Stromae for the station's interior design.
2. Closer to the action (Belgium)
Every motor sport and Formula 1 fan knows it. The Raidillon is the most spectacular part of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit: a steep 17% climb to a series of corners with a blind summit, which the Formula 1 cars tackle at 300 km/h and which demands immense technical skill from the drivers. It has also been the scene of some legendary overtakes, such as Schumacher's by Räikkönen in 2012, named overtake of the year by international sports media. From now on, the Raidillon has its own brand new 4,600-seat grandstand. Inaugurated by the Vice-President of the Walloon Region last week, it was built by our colleagues from Wust! Congrats to them for this great work. This is not the first time that Wust has carried out work at Spa-Francorchamps. Fifteen years ago, the company participated in the construction of the new paddock and grandstand, as well as in the adaptation of the circuit to new safety regulations. In short, if you are watching the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix on 28 August, you will have a good reason to think of Wust …every time the cars make a lap!
3. Breaking the waves in Poti (Georgia)
The picture below shows no more than a normal SLR excavator. What makes it special is that it has just arrived for the construction of the breakwater in the port of Poti, where physical work began in mid-April. The port of Poti, on the Black Sea, is the largest port in the country. BESIX is designing and building a new container terminal there, which includes a 400-metre-long quay, an 1,800-metre breakwater, a 300-metre groyne, and a yard area. We wish our teams on site all the best and look forward to following the progress of this exciting marine project.
4. Global Safety Time-Out around the globe
On 28 April, the annual BESIX Group Global Safety Time Out took place, with the participation of hundreds of us worldwide. This year it was dedicated to the engagement of subcontractors in the field of safety. A large part of our projects are subcontracted to external companies and their safety successes contribute to the success of BESIX. Our safety excellence therefore also depends on our ability to engage our subcontractors in the goals we pursue. Congratulations and thanks to all participants, as well as to the QHSE colleagues, who conducted this Global Safety Time Out in a masterly manner.
And then this... The little ship
It is a very small boat, but the first of many. Designed and built by our colleague project director, this miniature ship will forever remain the first to have navigated through the lock built by BESIX on the Vistula Spit in Poland. Before the end of the year, the infrastructure will be made available to larger ships this time, which will save precious time between the port of Elblag and the Baltic Sea, without having to make long detours through the Russian Baltiysk Strait.
