The work on the Montmacq-Cambronne lock is awarded

The Seine-Nord Europe Canal Company announced on Friday, December 22, 2023, the award of the first of three lots for the Montmacq-Cambronne-lès-Ribécourt lock works contract. This contract was awarded to a consortium of eight companies, with Bouygues Travaux Publics Régions France SAS as the lead contractor . The contract is expected to last 55 months and is valued at approximately €96 million excluding VAT. Work is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2024.

What work?

Lot 1 of the contract covers all the works and associated services necessary for the construction of the Montmacq-Cambronne-lès-Ribécourt lock , from earthworks (for a volume of approximately 200,000 m³) to the commissioning of hydromechanical equipment , including the construction of civil engineering (with a volume of structural concrete estimated at approximately 38,000 m³ and more than 4,100 tonnes of reinforcement), the supply and installation of equipment, as well as the necessary studies and manufacturing.

The dimensions of the lock chamber at Montmacq-Cambronne-lès-Ribécourt will be 195 meters in usable length and 12,50 meters in usable width , consistent with the dimensions of the existing locks on the navigable Oise River downstream. The lock will be able to accommodate boats up to pushed convoys of barges 185 meters long and 11,40 meters wide ( known as "Class Vb CEMT 92" ), with a draft of 3,00 meters and a carrying capacity of 4,400 tons of goods, equivalent to 220 trucks. The lock will allow these boats to overcome a difference in elevation of 6,41 meters in 30 minutes (complete entry-lock-exit cycle).

The lock's pumping system was designed not only to supply water to the Canal and to operate the lock, but also to help combat exceptional floods of the Oise (greater than thirty-year floods), by temporarily storing the withdrawn water in the different reaches of the Canal.

The " Building – Secondary Trades " and " Lock Platform, Landscaping and Flooring, Metalwork " lots will be subject to separate consultation procedures at a later date. The lock esplanade will also house a heritage orchard of fruit trees , continuing the tradition of orchards adjoining lock houses.

Modal shift, the will of the SCSNE

River transport is a major solution for decarbonizing transport, with _CO2 emissions three to five times lower than road transport per ton transported. This is the raison d'être of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal and, more broadly, the Seine-Scheldt network. SCSNE has therefore included in its works contracts the implementation of a modal shift logistics solution for supplying the construction site from road to river and rail . These two modes of high-volume transport are complementary and will significantly reduce the site's carbon footprint. Indeed, thanks to this contractual commitment, nearly 37,000 tons of supplies will not be transported by road, and approximately 100,000 tons of concrete aggregates will be supplied from within 100 km of the construction site.

A group anchored in Hauts-de-France

The consortium of companies and its designated subcontractors includes four companies based in the Hauts-de-France region (Bouygues Travaux Publics Régions France SAS in Marcq-en-Barœul (59), John Cockerill in Grande-Synthe (59), Ramery in Erquinghem-Lys (59) and Claisse Environnement in Saint-André-lez-Lille (59). This composition demonstrates the remarkable ability of regional companies to succeed in markets characterized by highly technical expertise.

A procurement procedure guided by the SCSNE Purchasing Policy

Adopted on October 1 ^, 2020 by its Supervisory Board, the SCSNE Procurement Policy invites bidding companies to become partners in the sustainable transformation of the regions, thereby supporting the objectives of security, employment and regional development, the environment, and innovation. The awarded contract reflects this policy through several key measures, including:

The obligation placed on the holder to entrust at least 20% of services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which represents an amount of €19 million excluding tax reserved for them.
The integration of a integration clause through economic activity (CIAE) which commits companies to hiring people far from employment, for a volume estimated at more than 68 hours. This approach is part of the Canal Solidaire system supported by the Departments, and aims to support local employment and sustainable integration. On all contracts awarded by SCSNE, to by the end of 2023, nearly 140 people have already been integrated, thanks to integration clauses, in a sustainable return to employment, and more than 100 hours of integration have already been carried out.