It's the world's longest sea-crossing bridge: 55 kilometres of motorway spans the Pearl River Estuary in the South China Sea before dipping into an undersea tunnel. The Chinese President Xi Jinping has today officially opened the gigantic infrastructure linking Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China. A colossal engineering structure, involving the Bouygues Construction subsidiaries Bouygues Travaux Publics, Dragages Hong Kong and VSL for the construction of a 9.4-kilometre section.
A bridge of strategic importance 5714 prefabricated segments of 250 different types, laid down at the rate of 18 per day, shaft grouted friction piling method to cope with difficult ground conditions – a technical first in Hong Kong –, sea-based installations and specific logistical arrangements to maintain the waterways throughout the duration of the works... Some notable innovations for the construction of this extraordinary bridge structure. It is now possible to reach Hong Kong from the main cities of the Pearl River delta in 30 minutes, compared with four hours by land and one hour by boat. A real basis for stimulating commercial ties between the two sides of the crossing.
Improving working conditions on sites with a system combining robotics and virtual reality. This is far from a fairy tale - this research and development programme will come into effect in 2020. The aim is to train employees to pick up the right habits, via a process that is both visual and tactile.
Quality of life is an ambition more and more claimed, especially by the new generations who aspire to a real global well-being in their workplace as in their homes.
Territories are complex systems that are constantly evolving. Using digital technologies, we can model, simulate, visualise and experiment with the characteristics of a territory with the aim of making it easier to manage. The digital twin, a virtual replica of a territory as it operates, has great potential, so long as its needs are well targeted and relevant use cases are defined.
Michel Cozic, Electric Mobility Director at Bouygues Energies & Services, presents his view on the subject and the infrastructure and services set up.
Alan Mossman is Managing Director of The Change Business Ltd, a lean design and construction consultancy. He is an occasional author and professor of lean construction at universities such as Loughborough and Nottingham Trent. If BIM is about technology, then lean is about the people who use that technology! Alan Mossman tells us about it today, through his favourite field, lean construction.
In February 2021, we surveyed 1,000 young people aged 15 to 25 about their relationship with the city. The responses, collected by Jam via the JAM chatbot on Messenger, are packed with findings!
For some people, living in the countryside is synonymous with isolation and loneliness. The hamlet of Les Noés in Val-de-Reuil (Eure) proves the contrary: this environmentally friendly eco-neighbourhood promotes the individual and collective well-being of its residents on a daily basis.
Attracting talent, mitigating climate change, and improving productivity: These are the construction sector's three main challenges. BIM and various digital tools offer useful solutions, but these are not enough.
Many towns and cities are looking for a way to remodel their urban planning to give them resilience in the face of climate issues. One such solution is to rally the stakeholders in an area - residents, companies and local authorities - to move towards housing solutions that are innovative, sustainable and accessible to all: that is the cited goal of the ‘sustainable construction charters’ emerging around France.
