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.
Intrapreneurship is a way of developing an innovative project without leaving your company. How does it work? What do you need to know before you start? Nicolas Courtois and Nicolas Dubreil, intrapreneurs from NewValue, seasons 1 and 2, told us about their recent experience in the matter.
The first part of the 6th assessment report of the IPCC, published in August 2021, made blatantly clear how important it is for us to meet the commitments made under the Paris Agreement by limiting global warming to less than 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The construction sector, one of the main emitters of greenhouse gases, is particularly concerned. It accounts for 19% of emissions in France (not including associated emissions such as electricity and heat production). At the heart of the sector’s low-carbon transition, the diversification and decarbonisation of building materials is an important lever: this covers the structuring of bio-sourced and geo-sourced materials, the development of solutions from the “dry sector” (reuse, prefabrication), and the emergence of new ranges of low-carbon concrete. The challenge is to be able to use the right material in the right place, according to the specific context of a given territory and a particular project. We turn the spotlight on low-carbon concrete: what processes and techniques does this term suggest and what does it promise?
Bouygues Construction joined Construct Lab in July. This group of construction and public works firms fixes frequent problems in these sectors, and start-up companies apply solutions. Julien Bourcerie, Open Innovation Manager for Bouygues Construction, on “collective intelligence” in construction.
This is all the more relevant after a pandemic, several lockdowns and ongoing remote working: lifestyles are changing. This context is one reason, but there are others! The desires and expectations of the French whether they’re home owners or tenants, are changing, driven by ecological concerns as well as a quest for meaning, well-being and a balance between work and home life. Changes to the household structure also bring their share of “new needs”, as does the significant ageing of the population. It is now housing and cities that need to be adapted or even reinvented, and residents who want to take the plunge into change! In addition, is moving house really the only alternative when you want to benefit from a home adapted to the current needs of each individual?
Given the backdrop of depleting resources such as sand and the saturation of landfills in Île-de-France, and due to the volumes excavated for this work, the idea of reusing the land excavated for new construction was very appealing.
We interviewed 1,000 young people about their housing. Their answers were very enlightening!
Bouygues Construction and Centrale Lille recently inaugurated the Construction 4.0 Chair, a partnership that represents the culmination of a 15-year relationship widely supported by the region and city. Two theses are already in the works. We met with the PhD students behind them.
23,000 hectares: this is the average annual area of natural, agricultural or forest land reallocated to urbanisation in France over recent years, the equivalent of 2.2 times the area of Paris, 33,000 football pitches or 19 million parking spaces. A figure which makes France one of the worst European students with regard to restraining real-estate development. The impact on biodiversity and CO2 emissions are such that there is an urgent need to hold back this effect. Although the target of Zero net artificialisation (ZAN) was written into the national biodiversity plan in July 2018, the strategy, method and means of bringing this into reality remains to be specified. Likewise the search for a denser, viable and liveable urban development model in large conurbations as well as town centres and small and medium-sized towns.
Across the world, nearly 200 m3 of concrete is poured every second. It is one of the most widely used industrial products - even more so than oil, especially in construction. In spite of its advantages in terms of land development, it is one of the major sources of CO2 emissions due to its cement content. How to build greener? About one billion tonnes of CO2 is released each year in the world by the cement industry. In the face of such global challenges and future changes in urbanisation, a revolution in construction methods is beginning. How can the construction sector commit to becoming more carbon-free? Can green building meet this challenge?
