SoilsTHE FREYSSINET&Structures GROUP MAGAZINE PANORAMA THE SOUMONT WALL, A WELL-INTEGRATED GIANT P. 2 FOCUS JULIO MARTINEZ CALZÓN AND MIGUEL GOMEZ NAVARRO: THE VERSATILITY OF STAY CABLES P. 4 REALIZATIONS A CITY IN THE DESERT P. 12 TRANSVERSE THE FREYSSINET STAY CABLE ON TOUR IN ASIA P. 22 Second semester 2004 STAY CABLE The System N° 220 in Top Form PANORAMA A Well-Integrated Giant Measuring 30 m in height and covering 10,000 m2, the Soumont wall located near Lodève (Hérault) on the new A75 motorway between Clermont-Ferrand and the Mediterranean Sea is one of the largest Reinforced Earth retaining structures in France. Despite its enormous proportions, the work was harmoniously integrated into the rocky environment using architectural cladding elements arranged in a terrace-like formation. Dry Repair Many structures were damaged during the floods that hit the south of France in 2002 and 2003. Freyssinet was called Stay Cables in to repair a portion of the for a Record-Breaking Span Philippe-Lamour canal near 128 Montpellier. Twelve 4 x 4 m square Construction of the Cooper slabs were reconstructed with River Bridge in South Carolina shotcrete, 160 m2 of concrete (USA) is well underway. facing was restored and 320 m With a total length of 4,023 m, of cracks and 71 joints were featuring a 900 m-long treated. Using a mobile coffer cable-stayed stretch and dam specially designed a central span of 472 m, for this project, the repairs this is the largest structure of were successfully completed its kind in the United States. without the need to empty Freyssinet will supply and the canal. install all 128 stay cables. Reinforced Earth: Freyssinet Attends the fib Symposium 30 Birthday Candles in Japan Freyssinet presented its latest accomplishments In June, Bruno Dupety, Freyssinet's at the fib (International Federation for Chief Executive Officer, attended the traditional Structural Concrete) Symposium held in Avignon KAI ceremonies organized by Sumitomo/Hirose (France) between the 26th and 28th of April. and Kawasho, Reinforced Earth licencies This international event organized by the AFGC in Japan. The most successful entities (French Association of Civil Engineering) were given awards for excellence and brought together nearly 400 engineers, Mr Niki, Hirose, Tanura and Yamamoto architects and experts from around the world. received a trophy celebrating the thirtieth In addition to the official activities, visits anniversary of Reinforced Earth’s licence to the Millau Viaduct, for which Freyssinet in the Land of the Rising Sun. is installing stay cables, and the Mediterranean TGV line were organized. 2 Soils & Structures Second Semester 2004 PANORAMA IN BRIEF Prestressed Floors USAt 4,800 Controlled Modulus Columns. Between last June for the Mirdiff Mall and August, DGI-Menard, In February 2004, Freyssinet the American subsidiary of Gulf LLC began the prestressing Ménard Soltraitement, realized of 130,000 m2 of floors 4,800 Controlled Modulus for the new Mirdiff Mall in Columns (CMC) south of Dubai. This is the largest Burlington in the State prestressing contract the of Vermont to strengthen the soil on a plot for future company has ever signed in construction of a store. the United Arab Emirates. By March 2005, 1,000 t of strands FRANCEt will have been installed 2 800 m of Carbon Fiber for several floors composed Fabrics. Freyssinet France has begun work in the Atlantic of full slabs and transverse Pyrenees region beams spanning 19 m. to strengthen the steps of the Bayonne amphitheater constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. A total Flyby through History of 800 m2 of Carbon Fiber Fabrics and 13 tons of Motorists in Ohio (USA) will soon be able to retrace metal beams will be installed the history of American aviation that took off in their by October 2004. region. A crossroads near Dayton has been renovated with 11,400 m2 of Reinforced Earth covered with SUDANt architectural panels presenting a 16-scene history Crossing of the story of the Wright brothers and their first Flyer. the Corinth Gulf Last August 7th, the Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece was inaugurated with the passage of the Olympic flame for the 2004 games held in Athens. On this 2,252 m long bridge, built by VINCI Construction Grands Projets, 5,200 m2 of Reinforced Earth. Freyssinet installed 368 stay cables Reinforced Earth’s first (4,500 t of steel) equipped with contracts in Sudan involved earthquake protection systems. the construction of Reinforced Earth approach ramps to the Tuti Bridge and the Al Gaba bridge, both situated in Khartoum. IBM Opts for Prestressing The surface areas of the cladding is 900 m2 for the Designed by the renowned Swiss architect, Max Dudler, Birthday Tuti structure and 4,300 m2 the new IBM headquarters under construction in for the Al Gaba structure. Zurich-Altstetten, is a 13-storey, 37,000 m2 complex. Freyssinet Polska, the Group’s Polish The panels were precast Allreal AG is in charge of construction, in association with subsidiary, is five years old. Since its by a local contractor with consultants Höltschi & Schurter and Walther Mory Maier. creation in 1999, it has participated in a pleasing bush-hammered For construction of the slabs, the project engineers the construction of the country's most architectural pattern. chose to implement a compact and easy-to-install prestigious sites : Gdansk Bridge, cable- stayed bridge over the Vistula in Plock, SOUTHt KOREA prestressing solution like those designed by Freyssinet. Lightning-Speed Construction. Through the fruitful collaboration between Feldmann Bau etc., and has seen the incremental With the assistance of the AG (Bilten) and Freyssinet, construction was completed launching of bridges in Czerniakowski Vélizy Technical Department in just eleven months. and Wroclaw. Currently, it is among the (France), Freyssinet Korea most active specialized of civil engineer- (South Korea) constructed the ing companies in the country. Over these Doomul cable-stayed past five years, Krzysztof Berger, the footbridge in the heart of general director, has created a team of Seoul last May in just eight Sols & Structures moves on talented young engineers; These include days. This unique structure Arkadiusz Franków, geotechnical engi- presents a 14 m wide central Sols & Structures will from now on be published every deck and is elevated 11 m six months. It will have supplementary pages and deal neer, Andrzej Kandybowicz, works man- from the ground by 12 stay with new areas. Two articles are already being scheduled ager, Pawel Skrzypczak, financial direc- cables, the longest of which is for the next edition: earthquake resistance devices on tor, Lucjan Talma, business manager, 20.2 m; Its tower stands the Rion-Antirion bridge and an article on the Polish and, last but not least, Zofia Krawczyc at 18 m high. agency, Freyssinet Polska. who joined Freyssinet Polska in 1999. Second semester 2004 Soils & Structures 3 FOCUS JULIO MARTINEZ CALZÓN-MIGUEL GOMEZ NAVARRO The Versatility of Stay Cables Julio Martinez Calzón and Miguel Gomez cross elements, the cables can create a functional part of the powerful aesthetic effect Navarro are both engineers in the Spanish footbridge, were given a when they form a group. Engineering Consultancy Company MC2 and hexagonal shape. Isolated cables should Again, this reinforced be reserved for light, participated in the design of the Valladolid the feeling of novelty spacious structures Science Museum footbridge*. They look back and movement procured such as building roofs, upon the genesis of this ground-breaking while crossing the for example. Conversely, structure. For the on a bridge, a group is structure, and sketch their vision for the future stabilizing cross cables, crucial to the aesthetic of stay cables. we contemplated using outcome. Whether one single cable they are used for bridges anchored to the lower or for building roofs, Soils & Structures. - footbridge that is between external part and wrapped stay cables and their You helped design the prestressed with external prestressing and stay around each ring or architectural Valladolid Science cables and equipped cables, let’s take a look polygon of the arrangement are a Museum footbridge. with a cable-stayed back at the original footbridge. However, whim, a fashion Would you classify it as component. An estimate project which was direction change statement. Their future a cable-stayed structure? of the proportions conceived by the problems finally forced could be limited. It’s a unique structure would be 80% architect José Rafael us to use double cables. During the 19th century, that’s difficult to prestressing and 20% Moneo in collaboration Freyssinet performed western societies were categorize. It would stay cables. To better with Enrique de Teresa, all the tests to validate likewise infatuated with be better described as a understand this fusion the Science Museum this design with the arch bridges, which architect. This was Cohestrand. In summary, later almost disappeared, originally based on the the structure could be replaced by lintels, form of a fish basket, defined as the dialogue only to resurface and to make this idea or correlation between recently, like a fad. more concrete, we a very fine metal wire proposed using cables mesh and a woven net So, cable-stayed bridges that would add to composed of only are a fad? the total aesthetics of vertical and horizontal Not exactly. the footbridge while cables. Clearly, the technique also stabilizing the has been overexploited pedestrian area. This Does this bold design without justification produced the desired make way for a new in many locations, such feeling of “spaciousness”. conception of cabled as developed countries In short, the structure structures? in response to client evolved through We showed a lot of demand based on modification of the creativity in the design the desire for fashion positioning of upper, of this structure, but or prestige.