Innovative design and construction of underground infrastructure is being called upon from designer engineers and contractors to build the Grand Paris Express expansion of the public transport metro system of the French capital ahead of its hosting of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
At the junction of the new Lines 14 and 15, design engineers have created a deep shaft solution to provide a cost effective and passenger-friendly interchange station. Engineers Tourlet, Atramont and Gorrochategui of design engineering firm setec tpi explain the details of the station design and its construction sequence.
Four eyes in the shaft structure prepare for excavation of the perpendicular station platform tunnels, the two, one either side of the shaft for Line 14 above the two for Line 15 below
The Villejuif – Institut Gustave Roussy Station is a double station within the projected new Grand Paris Express metro network. At the same location, it will serve both the new metro Line 15 South and the extension of the Line 14 towards Orly Airport (Fig 1). The two lines cross one another perpendicularly, Line 14 running 13m above Line 15. The special feature of the station is its structural design and the inspiration for its architectural design. The specific design is a large 63m i.d. shaft extending 50m deep and with four station platforms extending for a total of 122m long for Line 15 and 110m long for Line 14, partially across the shaft and partially in four platform tunnels, two per line.
The purpose is to create the interchange station within a tight construction programme and provide an efficient underground metro station for the many millions of passengers who will pass through its facilities. The access shaft is at the centre of the two lines and the four platform tunnels, one either side of the shaft for each line, will be excavated by open-face methods to contain the rail tracks and the station platforms, the two for Line 14 above the two for Line 15 below.