Cemex help cleanse the river Seine in Paris
Company participates in construction of huge storage basin to prevent wastewater discharge into river
CEMEX have supplied concrete and managed the transport of excavated materials by river from the construction site of the Austerlitz storage basin – a new infrastructure project near Paris Gare d'Austerlitz Railway Station, designed to prevent wastewater discharge into the river Seine.
Historically, part of the wastewater was discharged directly into the river. Now, in the event of rainfall, rainwater is transferred to the Austerlitz Basin through underground concrete tunnels and two collector wells, where it is temporarily stored to prevent overflows into the river.
Once collected in the basin – a structure the size of a dozen Olympic swimming pools – the wastewater is transported, via a tunnel beneath the train station, to a treatment plant and gradually returned to the Seine.
‘We are proud to participate in this ambitious infrastructure project that will help prevent wastewater discharge from reaching the river Seine,’ said José Antonio Cabrera, president of Cemex Europe, Middle East & Africa.
‘Cemex remain at the forefront of developing building materials for large-scale projects, contributing to a positive impact in urban areas such as Paris.’
The Austerlitz storage basin is a massive cylindrical structure measuring 50m in diameter and more than 30m deep, with a capacity to store more than 50,000m3 of water.
Cemex supplied 30,000m3 of high-strength concrete to the Impluvium consortium to build the diaphragm walls, the two collector wells, and the60m high barrettes, which are essential for supporting the basin’s structure.
Cemex also transported 128,000 tonnes of excavated construction and demolition materials (CDM) by river to their quarries in Normandy and the upstream Seine sectors, as well as to a facility 40km north of Paris, where the materials were treated and sorted.
Through this infrastructure project, the Paris municipality is improving the river Seine’s water quality by preventing wastewater discharge into the river.
