Context
This project is part of a series of works to reinforce the banks of the Canal du Midi in Toulouse, along the Boulevard de la Méditerranée. At the request of Toulouse Métropole, a sheet-pile structure was installed along 315m of this major thoroughfare (20,000 vehicles per day) to reinforce the right bank, which was showing signs of erosion. In order to minimize disruption to canal activity, the river works requiring a barge were carried out within a short timeframe.
This bank is a former towpath, a witness to the history of the Canal du Midi, whose construction dates back to the 17th century. Particular attention was paid to a masonry weir located in the continuity of the new sheet-pile curtain. This arch, dating from the first half of the 18th century, allows a watercourse to be discharged into the canal while guaranteeing traffic flow on the towpath.
Presentation of the works
The structure is a sheet-pile retaining structure designed to consolidate the canal bank and the nearby boulevard.
During the design phase, our teams began by creating a 3D model of the structure and the canal, which enabled us to define the quantities of backfill material to be used.
Our ABI carrier was placed on a pontoon by means of a 300T crane, and the sheet piles were then placed by vibrodriving, taking into account the roots of the plane trees nearby, which necessitated adjustment of the position of the retaining structure.
The surroundings of the masonry wedge structure were built using a low-powered trepanning machine, and the vibration data was recorded continuously to monitor the vibration thresholds not to be exceeded.
Once the structure was in place, connections to the stormwater network were made through the sheet piles.
