A refurbished CREG TBM previously used to excavate part of Grand Paris Express Line 16 has arrived in Gennevilliers ahead of a 7km drive for the €1.38bn Package 2 of Line 15 West.
The EPBM, named Houda, will be used by the NGE-Webuild consortium to excavate tunnels between Saint-Ouen and Courbevoie for Société des grands projets.
Manufactured by China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG), Houda has a 9.86m diameter cutterhead, is more than 100m long and weighs approximately 2,000t.
The TBM was previously deployed on Line 16 of the Grand Paris Express, where in 2020 it excavated 5.8km between Aulnay Val Francilia and Sevran-Livry stations in Seine-Saint-Denis.
The machine has since undergone a complete refurbishment at Webuild facilities in Italy. According to the contractor, reusing the TBM has saved around 12 months compared with manufacturing a new machine, while also reducing costs and the carbon associated with producing new equipment.
Following refurbishment, Houda was transported more than 2,200km to Gennevilliers using a combination of road, sea and inland waterways. Its 12 heaviest components, including the 170t cutterhead, were shipped from Civitavecchia, near Rome.
Houda will be launched from the Les Cabœufs ancillary structure in Gennevilliers and undertake two drives. The first will extend 1.2km towards Saint-Ouen, followed by a 5.8km drive in the opposite direction towards Courbevoie.
The €1.38bn M2 West package includes approximately 7km of tunnel and four new stations, together with connections to the existing transport network.
NGE and Webuild are also targeting lower-carbon logistics during excavation. Around 80% of the approximately 500,000m³ of spoil generated by the tunnelling works is expected to be transported by barge, eliminating an estimated 64,000 lorry journeys from roads in the Paris region. Most of the excavated material will subsequently be sent for recovery or reuse.
The tunnels will be lined with precast fibre-reinforced concrete segments manufactured in the Paris region at a plant co-owned by NGE. The contractors said the system reduces steel requirements by around 50% compared with conventional reinforcement.
Line 15 West is scheduled to enter service in 2031 and will connect Saint-Denis–Pleyel with La Défense, reducing the journey between the two locations to around 19