Final prize-winner - VINCI 2015 Innovation Awards

11 December 2015 - Sustainability - France

The final winners. With more than 2,200 projects submitted by almost 5,600 participants, the VINCI 2015 Innovation Awards competition has confirmed the creativity and spirit of initiative of the Group's employees. After the 131 prizes awarded in the regional ceremonies, 14 were distinguished in the final awards ceremony on 10 December in Paris. Among them, a new development in 2015: the "2020 Climate Challenge" Prize, awarded after an open competition addressed to students all over the world.

GRAND PRIZE - Biocalcis, Soletanche Bachy's biological ground consolidation solution
The fruit of several years of development in the company and protected by three patents, it is based on the capacity of the bacteria Sporosarcina pasteurii to calcify soil by producing a biocement. The solution containing the bacteria is injected, resulting in formation in situ of a calcareous sandstone-like material.

DISSEMINATION PRIZE - Mobistep® 2.0, a rolling lightweight individual work platform specifically designed for VINCI Energies
Since the authorised rolling, lightweight, individual work platforms are not suited to the work of electricity installers (weight, size, ease of handling, etc.), a prototype was developed in 2012 by Masselin Tertiaire (VINCI Energies) and the manufacturer Audinnov to respond to the business line’s specific needs. A multi-faceted approach was adopted to improve the first version of the equipment, reduce its cost and overcome any reluctance to use the platform. The resulting feedback enabled development of a comprehensive range under the name Mobistep® 2.0. In parallel, it has been presented within VINCI Energies and other VINCI business lines on many occasions as a way of stimulating interest in the equipment. From comic strip to technical fact sheet: a whole range of approaches was used to publicise the advantages of Mobistep® 2.0.

SAFETY PRIZE - Anticipating well together - Rehearsing to get it right
Anticipating well together” is based on a safety education kit used to reproduce a motorway and the environment in which the operations will take place. The teams, assembled around the pack, can prepare their intervention in detail: reminder of the goals, role and position of each member, use of vehicles, positioning of signage, etc.

SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE - Biodi(v)strict : Assessing and developing the biodiversity potential of projects
Provision of natural spaces and preservation or even restoration of biodiversity is a strong expectation in today’s world. Recognition of this need led to the development of an easy-to-use, rapid tool - known as Biodi(V)strict - in the framework of the ParisTech-VINCI Eco-design of Buildings and Infrastructure Chair. Urban development players can use the tool to establish a preliminary audit of existing biodiversity within the scope of a project and subsequently track the indicator.

PARTNERS PRIZE - SEA HSL "Serious games"
From 2011, a partnership was signed between the Rector of Poitou-Charentes and COSEA. Among other missions, this partnership confided to a team of teachers, academy staff and group of inspectors with the task of designing various "serious games" for use in class on topics related to the worksite. Each game must confront the student to an aspect of the project (design, technology, environment, etc.) from the data transmitted by COSEA. Finalized in spring 2013, the project Resources TGV offers a range of sequences that can be addressed from 6th grade to the top level (BTS TP) in many disciplines (biology, geography, legal and social civic education, technology, etc.)

BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION PRIZE - Self-propelling, multi-function rail destressing trolley (Clam)
The SNCF has been using the continuous welded rail (CWR) technique for building and replacing track on its network since the 1970s. Once laid, these rails must be adjusted to avoid buckling due to temperature variations. This very technical operation, known as destressing, requires a sizeable work team and 10 or so machines weighing up to 350 kg, and gives rise to many problems in terms of safety and productivity. In 2013, ETF (Eurovia) designed and developed a self-propelling, multi-function destressing trolley (Clam), as an alternative to the traditional method. This 5 tonne machine integrates all the tools and automated systems required for continuous track destressing operations. 

PROCESSES AND TECHNIQUES PRIZE - Starsol T-Pile®, a faster and more economical technique for installing pile foundations
The market for installing foundation piles using a hollow auger is characterised by very low prices and standard techniques. Soletanche Bachy Pieux (VINCI Construction), which already enjoys a competitive lead thanks to its Starsol® process, continues to seek more effective solutions to reduce the quantities of concrete used and improve productivity. The Starsol T-Pile® technique developed in 2013 improves the Starsol® system by incorporating a retractable pin system.

MARKETING AND SERVICES PRIZE - City App, a platform for managing communicating equipment in the city of tomorrow
The emergence of energy performance contracts, new technologies and connected urban equipment represents a genuine challenge for Citeos (VINCI Energies) business units, which now have to expand their public lighting management solutions to cover the whole range of dynamic urban equipment (traffic lights, electric vehicle charging stations, etc.). City App, developed by Citeos in partnership with Actemium Paris Transport (VINCI Energies), is an interface enabling optimisation of maintenance procedures, real-time display and acquisition of performance indicators such as failure rates and call-out times, and tracking the energy consumption of a local authority’s infrastructure assets. The platform enables centralised management of all this equipment.

EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS PRIZE - Public lighting cable protection, theft prevention equipment for lampposts
As the price of copper has increased, so has the theft of copper wire. Public lighting systems are especially at risk because wires can be cut and pulled through the lamppost access opening. So far, none of the protection systems tried (welding the access cover shut, placing the access cover higher up on the lamppost, installing a keyed lock, etc.) have been effective. The device is a metal box that mechanically prevents the cable from being cut below the fuse box. It is made up of two parts: one, in the back, is attached to the lamppost and serves to support the second, which covers and protects the cables from the front. It has been presented to a variety of clients and was selected by Lille Eurometropolis (MEL) to secure a number of public lighting sites. A patent application has been filed.

MANAGEMENT PRIZE - "Lay Assessor" scheme
A system that encourages dialogue and sets up rules for exchanges between works teams and local residents and stakeholders in the operational phase of a project.

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE - Foundation "stocks" for the Yamal LNG project
The innovation that this solution brought to the issue of building sensitive structures in seismic zones and its very broad potential for application.

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE - A replica of the Chauvet cave - 3D at the service of a paleolothic masterpiece
The Chauvet cave, discovered in 1994 in Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (Ardèche) is one of the oldest (around 30,000 years BP) and richest prehistoric cave art sites in the world, with around 1,000 paintings and engravings. To protect the paintings, the cave was finally closed to the public, but most of its treasures can still be discovered in a 3,500 sq. m. replica built by VINCI in just 18 months. Description: The decision to use the traditional technique of projecting mortar foam onto a metal mesh framework was very quickly made. However, the complexity of the shapes ruled out use of 2D drawings. All the design and execution work was therefore done using 3D drawings based on the modelling of the cave. It required creating ad hoc programmes for an innovative workstation where workers could see the structures to be created in 3D on digital tablets and videoprojectors.

SPECIAL "OUR FAVORITE" PRIZE - « Ivresse », a filmmaker's talent to serve road safety
An approach that succeeded in combining energies around a general-interest cause, that created an unprecedented buzz across all communication channels and is being reproduced through other projects.

CLIMATE CHALLENGE PRIZE - Cool Cité, organising logistics flows to cut pollution in the city
122 projects were submitted for the "2020 Climate Challenge", an international competition open to students, with 37 nationalities represented.
In large urban centres, the lack of coordination in logistics for delivering products and goods generates redundant travel and many trips by empty delivery vehicles. These trips consume large amounts of energy, compound traffic and parking problems in cities, and cause pollution and noise.
Cool Cité mitigates these drawbacks through a logistics pooling system. The project is built around three complementary components:
- use of a mobile app integrating the entire logistics chain in real time, enabling the various parties involved to communicate;
- a system of "smart" electric transport vehicles (vehicle and battery-trailer) used for deliveries and collections;
- establishment of urban distribution centres (UDCs) at strategic points (e.g. railway stations and shopping areas).

The shared use of electric vehicles immediately reduces the disruption caused by logistics operations. The system offers benefits for all parties: transport companies can plan their routes, recipients can better track their deliveries. The collection part of the project (food waste, etc.) can be organised better based on data accessible via the application.