Multimodal platform, Port of Thionville-Illange, FR | 2014

Transforming France’s key river port for multimodal logistics and international trade

Considered France's leading river port for metallurgical products, the Port of Thionville-Illange, located in the Moselle département (57), underwent major changes between 2014 and 2015. These changes were part of the EUROPORT project, developed by the Portes de France and Val de Fensch conurbations to create a multimodal industrial and logistics business park. This high-performance logistics asset, located on a strategic river route at the heart of the Greater Region, will enable international trade to be developed using river and rail freight.

The modernisation of the existing port site involved building a 10-hectare container terminal with a 306-metre-long quay able to accommodate pushed barges with gauges ranging from 90 m to 180 m in length and 10 to 11.4 m in width for a maximum tonnage of 4,400 tonnes.

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The construction of the new quay in the extension of the existing quay required 4 months of work without disrupting the activity of the port area, a constraint defined by the project owner. The new structure is being built in several phases: installation of the main sheet pile curtain, followed by that of the anchor curtain and finally the installation of the tie rods and anchors.

The 11 m long PU 18+1 sheet piles used for the main curtain were driven using an ‘ICE 416L’ hydraulic vibrator, then anchored at the foot in the 3 m thick marl using a ‘Delmag D19-52’ diesel hammer. In the reduced-gauge zone, due to the presence of a high-voltage overhead power line, the pile-driving workshop used an ‘ICE 28RF’ variable-frequency hydraulic vibrator mounted on a telescopic crane to limit vibrations in the vicinity of the EDF pylons.

The anchoring curtain was executed in ‘trouser-leg’ fashion, i.e. alternating 3 and 5 m paplanches.

In the reduced-gauge zone, GTS opted for a 40 m-long stepped curtain as an alternative to the anchor curtain. The anchor bolts were replaced by several curtains of PU 12 sheet piles, each 7 m long and set at right angles to the main curtain, forming 5 open cells. The sheet piles were installed using a ‘Movax SPH80’ vibrator mounted on an excavator.

To ensure the stability of the structure, 612 m of tie rods and 129 passive tie rods 16 m long and 2.4 m apart were also installed. After backfilling to an elevation of -0.4 m below the final elevation and recutting the main curtain, the reinforced concrete crown beams (L= 65 cm x H= 50 cm) were built. 10 steel mooring bollards protected by an ACQPA anti-corrosion coating, 78 elastomer berthing fenders and ladders completed the structure.

Work began in September 2014 and was completed at the end of 2015