Olympic Games in Paris: How 15 Bauer cutters made the metro fit
The 2024 Summer Olympics kicked off in Paris last week and millions of visitors from all over the world are currently flocking to the French capital to attend the major event. This naturally means a massive amount of additional traffic for the city's infrastructure, which is already working to capacity.
The city took an important step towards tackling the inner-city traffic chaos when it decided to extend the metro tunnel network by around 200 km at the beginning of the decade. And although the “Grand Paris Express”, as this largest infrastructure project in Europe is called, is not due to be completed until 2030, the city and its visitors are already benefiting from the completed lines and stations - a noticeable relief for the Olympics too.
Construction work began in 2013 on this mammoth project, which involves the construction of 68 stations and a network of automated subway lines. And you know what? Bauer Maschinen was there with its equipment right from the start!
Numerous customers of Bauer Maschinen have relied on the capacity of the highly functional BAUER MC 96 duty-cycle cranes equipped with BAUER BC 40 diaphragm wall cutters right from the start. This innovative cutter system is deployed in combination with the turnable HDS-T hose drum system. This is special because the design of the boom head and the cable pulley allows the cutter to be rotated continuously within a range of -50 degrees to +95 degrees to its normal position.
Up to 70-meter-deep walls were constructed for the underground stations, their ventilation system, the emergency exits and also for both the launch and terminal shafts for the tunnel boring machine using the diaphragm walling technique. One of the biggest challenges of this mega project is the demanding geology: hard, occasionally extremely heterogeneous limestone beds, typical for Paris. Just the right challenge for the powerful engine and the 35-ton winches of the BAUER MC 96 duty-cycle crane, which was able to demonstrate impressively what it is capable of. Not to say: a truly Olympic achievement! Two GB 50 grab carriers were also used.
Jump back in time with us five years and experience how our machines played an important role in the “Grand Paris Express” project.