VINCI Construction Completes Tunneling for Automated Metro Line B in Rennes

VINCI Construction, through a joint venture led by Dodin Campenon Bernard and including GTM Ouest and Botte Fondations, both subsidiaries of VINCI Construction France, along with Spie Batignolles TPCI, Spie Fondations and Legendre Génie Civil, has completed tunneling Line b, the second automated metro line in Rennes, France, for regional authority Rennes Métropole and transport authority Semtcar. Line b will run between the southwest and northeast of the urban area and will serve 15 stations by 2020.

After 38 months of operation, tunnel boring machine Elaine, specially designed for this project, arrived at its exit shaft. At the end of this phase, Elaine will have traveled about 8.5 kilometers deep underground, passing nine stations and four ventilation shafts. In total, the tunnel boring machine, which measures 82 meters long and has a diameter of 9 meters, installed 29,806 arch liners.

The joint venture exploited every possible synergy between its participating companies to find innovative technical solutions to the numerous geological challenges encountered along the route. The civil engineering project is scheduled for completion during the summer of 2018. Line b of the Rennes metro is designed to support the urban area’s growth. The Rennes network recorded 76.8 million trips in 2014. With the creation of Line b, traffic is forecast to reach 120 million trips in 2020.

Watch the arrival of the TBM here: https://vimeo.com/257870983.