Bespoke moulds for Grand Paris Express 28 Sep 2017

In the year of its 30th anniversary, French CBE Group is to start its 500th project, providing segment moulds for the Grand Paris Express Metro Line 15. It has supplied a carousel and six sets of moulds to client GIE ALLIANCE and segment construction is expected to start by the end of September 2017.

CBE to supply a carousel and six sets of segment moulds

The modular carousel has been installed at the construction site on the east side of Paris to serve two bored tunnels of 4.679km and 2.159km. As it is software controlled, operators will be able to change the number of required moulds which will be useful as the plant is producing segments of different sizes. Being bespoke, the carousel also has a new fan assisted heating system to conserve energy and a new water spraying system to regulate humidity in the curing chamber.

Other novel features of the carousel include a reinforced camera system on the transfer gantry, a flying bucket system to distribute concrete from an overhead crane, an automated stacker to simplify stacking between the tilting device and the pre-storage phase and a pre-storage carousel that allows segments to cool down progressively before being stacked outside.

The Grand Paris Express will include 200km of lines and 68 new train stations. Four lines (15, 16, 17, 18) will be created, and the existing lines 11 and 14 will be extended.

CBE Group has recently worked on the Moscow Metro in Russia; Beijing Metro in China; La Sagrera Tunnel in Barcelona, Spain; Mumbaï Metro in India; and the cooling tunnels of the Hinkley Point nuclear central, United Kingdom. CBE Group specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of steel moulds, precast factories and maintenance equipment to manufacture concrete segments. It oversees every step of the process from conception in the design office to the launch of the plant.

“The fact that this 500th project takes place in France is highly symbolic and can be seen as a nod to our history. Our teams are all very proud of the work accomplished through the years,” said Didier Lefebvre, CBE CEO.