Interview with Karine Famy
How can lean management change the world of construction? Karine Famy, Director of Production Habitat Nord at Bouygues Bâtiment Nord-Est, explains.
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.
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Transforming a street with a brushstroke: what does the future hold for tactical urbanism?
During 2020, the term 'tactical urbanism' suddenly appeared on the front pages of the press to describe the arrangements being tested in the face of the COVID-19 crisis: pop-up ‘corona cycle lanes’ marked out in yellow on the streets or temporary terraces for restaurants and cafés instead of parking bays, for example. Light, low-cost, temporary and sometimes transitional, tactical urbanism has many advantages in the face of crisis. Do these facilities point to more permanent developments? How do you transition smoothly between two views of a street or a square? What are the social and cultural issues at stake, and what are the impacts in terms of use? What initiatives can come from the inhabitants of an area?
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The tertiary decree: 60% energy savings are in sight
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Our best buildings… in the snow!
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Plan BIM 2022: What role will big construction companies play?
Plan BIM 2022, recently launched by Julien Denormandie, minister for Housing and Town Planning, aims to speed up the implementation of the BIM. Funding of 10 million euros has been allocated to the construction sector, SMEs in particular. So what role will big construction companies play in this?
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What progress have we made on energy retrofitting?
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“Strong support is vital when joining forces with startups”
Bouygues Construction was one of the first construction companies to focus on innovation, and more particularly, open innovation. The group has created a dedicated team which works with our long-standing partner: Impulse Partners. We are now renewing that collaboration to reinforce Bouygues Construction's involvement with startups. Decryption.
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Energies of the future: what energy mix to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050?
In 2019, France set itself the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. If we are going to meet this climate commitment, we need to speed up the country's decarbonisation and redefine the energy system, two-thirds of which still depends on fossil fuels. At a time when the country is launching consultations on the future French Strategy on Energy and Climate, which will serve as the national roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 and adapting our society to the impacts of climate change, three projections performed by ADEME (the French agency for ecological transition), RTE (the French transmission system operator) and NégaWatt (a think tank) question the energies of our future.
