The Grand Paris Express
Lessons from the Engineers on site!
The Institute of Civil Engineer’s Paris chapter go on regular tours so that engineers from the various sub-branches of civil engineering can share our perspectives. I am the French Chapter’s treasurer and one of the yearly pleasures is helping out with making these events happen (even if it often comes down to only being the beancounter that writes only a few cheques)!
This year’s final tour was a trip to one of the Grand Paris Express sites and we got an insight on how the civil engineers who specialise as tunneling engineers operate. The Grand Paris Express consists of a group of new rapid transit lines that is being built in the Île-de-France region (the greater Paris area).
The rationale for the project was that much of Paris’s population stay and work outside of the Boulevard Périphérique (Ring Road), and as opposed to crossing through Paris on a daily basis, The Grand Paris Express will offer them alternative routes to bypass the congestion in the inner city. Because standards of living are strongly linked to the availability of transport, increasing the access to public transport remains one of the many sensible policy interventions that can bring development to poorer communities in particular.
The Grand Paris express is set to be completed by 2030 (and yes as with all large projects, there were “slight” cost overruns and all the problems that civil engineers face).
The main challenges according to the engineers on the site remain what all large infrastructure projects face, building too early without the execution design 100% finalised, and trouble with managing that various interfaces between all the other systems that are involved.
Yet despite this the engineers are doing a remarkable job and the project is set on course for its completion.
Our visit was at the Sevran Livry RER B station, it’s not far from the Charles de Gaulle Airport, for those who have been to Paris.
Tunnel Engineering is a subset of Civil Engineering and they are famous for directing their Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), a number of large boring worms that travel from tunnel shaft to tunnel shaft. A series of shafts have been sinked in Paris, that are located at a distance of 1 km apart. (I am told by one of the experienced older engineers that the distance was imposed based on a hire safety criteria, after a number of famous fire events were analysed, leading to changes in the design specifications).
My view is that this is the right way to handle safety. It’s in line with Edward Deming’s Principles in Quality Control. Rather design the feature into the system by eliminating the danger as opposed to having a bossing “safety officer” that checks if everybody has done a risk or hazard assessment.
Below are a few photos that I would like to share with my subscribers.
Selfie on the top level, TBM viewed from the top storey.
Tunnel Boring Machine
Staircase going down to the TBM.
Glasses on when downstairs (dust particles might just get into your eyes)
Conveyer Belt that moves the excavated soil to a safe location.
