Hong Kong airport: Soletanche Bachy on the track

As part of the extension of the Hong Kong International Airport, Soletanche Bachy, a subsidiary of Vinci specializing in foundations and soil technologies, has made a joint venture (50% / 50%) with its South Korean partner Sambo E & C, to carry out soil reinforcement by Geomix (or Cutter Soil Mixing - CSM) under limited height, near the north runway.

This contract of 380 M €, signed in September 2016, concerns one of the most important soil reinforcement operations ever carried out by Soletanche Bachy. It provides for the construction of a temporary 1,500 sq meters metal platform on piles around one of the approach beacons of the current northern runway which will remain in service during the works. This contract includes the construction of a third track, gaining 650 ha on the sea. Its mission will be to accommodate some 102 million passengers per year in 2030. The work, begun in 2016, will be completed in two and a half years.

In view of the incessant activity of the airport, all the work is carried out from barges equipped with powerful monitoring systems in particular to anticipate the impacts on production linked to the violation of AHR (Airport Height Restriction) rules and maritime risks (waves, typhoons ...). In its task, Soletanche Bachy uses the Geomix (a patented process allowing to realize, under limited height, an improvement of the characteristics of the soil in place thanks to a mixture of soil and cement) on no less than 18 workshops.