VINCI wins contract to build two tunnels in the United States

24 August 2006 - New contracts - United States of America

VINCI Construction Grands Projets, leader of a consortium with two American companies – Parsons RCI Inc., a subsidiary of Parsons Corp. (20%), and Frontier-Kemper Constructors, Inc. (20%) – has signed a contract with King County in Washington state for the construction of two tunnels. Built within the framework of an overall wastewater treatment system, the tunnels will carry wastewater to the new treatment plant at Brightwater in King County, north of Seattle, before discharging treated wastewater into the sea.

The contract, worth $211 million (about €166 million), covers driving two tunnels of 6.1 km and 3.6 km respectively using two slurry tunnel boring machines (TBMs) with an external diameter of 5.30 metres and pressure of up to 7 bar. The technique, which is rarely used in the United States, is one VINCI Construction Grands Projets’ specific areas of expertise.

The two tunnels will form the central part (Brightwater central tunnel) of a wastewater collection system comprising 22 km of tunnels. They will be made of prefabricated segments installed as the TBMs progress. VINCI Construction Grands Projets will also excavate two access shafts, one 28 metres deep and the other 63 metres. In addition, the company will trench a 1 km pipeline between the new and existing systems. Of this, 0.5 km will be driven using microtunnelling.

Work will start on 28 August and take 51 months to complete.

VINCI Construction Grands Projets is one of the world’s leading specialists in tunnel construction, as illustrated by the numerous references it has in France and the rest of the world. These include the Hallandsas tunnel in Sweden, Mitholz tunnel in Switzerland, A86 motorway to the west of Paris, Terminal 5 tunnels at Heathrow Airport in the UK, and metro tunnels in Cairo, Algiers, Athens and Budapest. Over the past 15 years, VINCI Construction Grands Projets has driven 718 km of tunnels.

 

About VINCI
VINCI is a global player in concessions, energy and construction, employing 280,000 people in more than 120 countries. We design, finance, build and operate infrastructure and facilities that help improve daily life and mobility for all. Because we believe in all-round performance, we are committed to operating in an environmentally, socially responsible and ethical manner. And because our projects are in the public interest, we consider that reaching out to all our stakeholders and engaging in dialogue with them is essential in the conduct of our business activities. Based on that approach, VINCI’s ambition is to create long-term value for its customers, shareholders, employees, partners and society in general.