Categories for Geography

Supplying drinking water to the town of Thonon

21 July 2022
A daunting challenge, given the Allinges and Lyaud mountains, to be met with an MTBM! A portion of the water supply pipe, dating from 1936, which links the catchment point in the natural springs of the Blaves galleries (Lyaud) to the Chavannes reservoir (Allinges) was collapsing and in need of replacement. This is a particularly significant operation for the Thonon conglomeration and its users, as the network in question supplies 90% of the town of Thonon-les-Bains and ensures safe water for more than 30,000 inhabitants. Given the local topography (a hill over… +

A technically challenging project

20 January 2022
following the collapse of a 19th-century underground structure in Valenciennes. In early September 2021, the Valenciennes Métropole Local Authority (CAVM) made an urgent call to SADE Special Works. The vault of a 19th-century gallery, located under Place de l’Esplanade in Valenciennes, partially collapsed following road redevelopment works. This gallery channels the Grand Bruille underground river. A key facility for the CAVM, the recommissioning of the whole square had to be executed urgently: the road works were scheduled to resume in mid-October on the collapsed portion, and reinforcement works to the structure had to be completed by… +

SADE contributes to economic recovery

20 January 2022
SIZIAF is the manager of a 460ha industrial estate located in the Douvrin and Billy-Berclau municipalities. It is responsible for the structural development, management and economic growth of the Artois-Flandres industrial park.  Geared primarily towards industrial companies, the first firm to locate to the estate in the late 1960s was La Française de Mécanique. This industrial estate continues to grow today. A new 90ha plot was freed up and redesigned on the former Française de Mécanique site, notably for the firm ACC, winner of the French government’s recovery plan for the car industry and innovative entities. ACC is Europe’s leading… +

Large-scale drainage works to the north of Tours

2 December 2021
5 years after La Riche, Rennes RD and SADE Special Works pooled their expertise once more on behalf of Tours Métropole, for vast drainage works between Tours and Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire. Broken down into two orders attributed to the Rennes RD and SSW, this 15-month, out-size task involved the extension of the drainage network to the north of the Tours metropolis, with the building of a primary collector to transport wastewater to the main treatment plant (La Grange) in La Riche, the ultimate goal being to close down all the small treatment plants in… +

Dilution to standardise the drinking water resources of a municipality in Moselle

30 November 2021
Rustroff, a village in the immediate vicinity of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, needed to find a solution to improve its drinking water resource. On overly-present element Up until then, local springs served as Rustroff’s primary water source. The level of phosphates in these waters had been rising steadily for several years. To restore a standard level, the municipal authorities opted for dilution, by mixing this spring water with water supplied by a neighbouring authority. Following a call for tenders, the building of an interconnection network and automated facilities was entrusted to the Greater Metz RD. A carefully developed project… +

Improving a municipality’s drainage network

24 November 2021
The Loire-Forez conglomeration entrusted the SADE Group with the separation of a sewer mains section in the Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert municipality. Works were co-contracted by the local SADE agency and DPSM, our Toulouse-based subsidiary and rehabilitation expert. Double, rehabilitate and separate Along around 450m on Avenue des Barques, the task was to: Rehabilitate a T180 ovoid Build a stormwater collector in parallel (800mm-diameter concrete) Create/modify all branch connections to separate stormwater and wastewater drainage along most of this section The DPSM teams took care of the rehabilitation, while the Poitiers-Metz RD, and more specifically the Saint-Etienne branch… +

Two thrusts from a single entry shaft to build a collector

18 November 2021
In Beaumont, as part of a project to install junctions to the Pourliat stormwater basin drain, Clermont Auvergne Métropole (CAM) called on SADE Special Works and the Poitiers-Metz RD (Clermont-Ferrand Agency), to create a stormwater collector using microtunnelling (1,200mm-diameter) along 635m. The works Works were executed: In two thrusts: the first along a straight distance of 240m and the second along 395m with a 200m bend of 400m radius from a single entry shaft to two exit shafts. Using standard techniques, SADE Special Works carried out the excavation works… +

SADE acts for the environment in Terramesnil

10 November 2021
From June to September 2021, SADE helped to create the wastewater system for the Terramesnil municipality, in coordination with Balestra TP. An ex-nihilo project for the Doullennais Inter-Municipal Drinking Water Authority to improve life for the 300 inhabitants of this village. A coordinated worksite SADE was responsible for laying, along 600m, a gravitational mains in 200mm-diameter sandstone, creating around 50 branch connections in 150mm-diameter sandstone, and the building of a pumping station and its discharge in 90mm-diameter HDPE along 300m. These facilities were located on clay-rich land at a depth of 1.3m to 2m. To avoid interfering with the harvesting… +

Creation of an underground electric link to the Calvados wind farm

8 November 2021
In March 2021, building works began to the wind farm off the Calvados coast, with commissioning scheduled for 2024. RTE entrusted SADERTELEC with the creation of the project’s dual electric land link. Works were carried out in synergy with the Rouen RD up to February 2022. Very High Voltage Located 10 to 15km off the Courseulles-sur-Mer coastline, this wind farm will consist of 64 wind turbines capable of producing 450MW, i.e. 90% of the power needs of the Calvados area (approximately 630,000 inhabitants). Its production will be transported to… +

Installation of a seawater heat pump system

29 October 2021
Energy transition: a growth strategy for SADE. Background In 2019, the Boulonnais Local Authority (CAB) carried out a feasibility test for the installation of an ambient loop system using seawater to produce heat. The study site is located in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer (Capécure area). The aim of the  is to power two warehouses of the cold storage company Norfrigo, in place of the current air-cooled condensers, and thus enhance the energy efficiency of the refrigeration production unit. The study consists in the creation of two ambient heat loops: A seawater loop An intermediate industrial water loop (glycol water) The… +