The Grand Paris Express project has reached a significant milestone with the awarding of two civil engineering contracts for Line 17 in Val-d’Oise. More than half of the 26.5 km section has already been completed.
The Société du Grand Paris (SGP) has announced the selection of the winning bids for two civil engineering contracts on the 26.5 km stretch of Line 17, which runs through Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-d’Oise, specifically the Gonesse triangle and the Roissy-CDG airport areas.
A consortium led by Razel-Bec, along with Sefi-Intrafor and Fayat Energies Services – three subsidiaries of the Fayat Group, has been chosen to carry out the works to connect the future metro line to the airport platform. The contract is valued at 516 million euros.
In practical terms, the companies will be responsible for constructing a 6.3 km tunnel, the “Aéroport CDG 2 TGV” station, two sections of covered and open trenches totaling 900 meters in length, and 7 service structures. “With this contract award, the entire route of the line will be under construction by the beginning of 2024, with the exception of the Mesnil Amelot station,” stated the SGP. The future terminus of the line, located in Seine-et-Marne, is also expected to begin taking shape in 2025.
The other contract awarded concerns the development of the highly contested Gonesse triangle station. The consortium composed of Chantiers Modernes Constructions (a subsidiary of lead contractor Vinci Construction), Blocotelha, Cegelec Paris Ventilation, and ETT has won the contract worth 54 million euros. The construction of the station and five service structures will commence by the end of 2024. Between 130,000 and 160,000 passengers are expected to eventually use Line 17 each day.
While more than half of the work has already been completed with the arrival of the tunnel boring machine “Florence” in Bonneuil-en-France in the fall, activities related to the future station in the middle of fields continue to be a point of contention. Initially justified by the arrival of the EuropaCity leisure complex, which was ultimately abandoned in 2019, the area will now be the site of activities from the Agoralim project led by Semmaris, an international school complex, and a government office whose name is still awaited.
In recent months, environmental activists have stepped up actions and protests to denounce the installation of the school complex on arable land and under flight paths. Conversely, many local elected officials and economic stakeholders are eagerly anticipating the urbanization of these lands thanks to the metro.
Hugo Robert
