First voussoirs on the LGV SEA

18 March 2013 - Projects update and handover - France

On 4 February 2013, in western France, on the route of the LGV SEA Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line, the first voussoirs of the Boëme Viaduct were installed in the presence of Frédéric Cuvillier, French Minister of State for Transport, the Sea and Fisheries, Jacques Rapoport, chairman of Réseau Ferré de France, Hervé Tricot, chairman of LISEA (VINCI Concessions) and Xavier Neuschwander, chairman of the COSEA consortium headed by VINCI Construction Terrassement. This structure (length: 450 m; height: 23 m) will span the Boëme, a tributary of the Charente. Its design was dictated by two major environmental constraints: the need to preserve the natural banks of the watercourse and the ecological corridors. Construction work began in July 2012 with the preparatory works and earthworks, and will continue until the 185 voussoirs forming the deck have all been installed. These are being supplied by the prefabrication plant in Coulombiers (western France) where the 1,340 voussoirs needed for the construction of 7 of the new line's 19 viaducts are being produced.