Speciality networks
Specialty networks saw marked growth (up by 11.5% at €3.6 billion).
Soletanche Bachy (49% of revenue), a world leader in foundations, was active in projects to build low-carbon transport infrastructure (HS2 rail line in the United Kingdom, the Grand Paris Express programme in France and City Rail Link in Auckland, New Zealand) and improve water quality (e.g. Canoas wastewater treatment plant in Colombia and Austerlitz tank in Paris, France). Other noteworthy projects included Port 2000 in Le Havre, northwest France, and the extension of Hong Kong International Airport. What’s more, Soletanche Bachy acquired a majority stake in Brady Marine & Civil (an Australian specialist in port infrastructure and marine and coastal structures) and completed its acquisition of Zetas ATS in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Menard (13% of revenue), which specialises in ground improvement, was involved in projects such as the Lincoln Gateway Mall in the US, the Melbourne metro in Australia, the multipurpose terminal in the port of Alexandria in Egypt, the future Nam Binh wind power plant in Vietnam and remediation of a closed‑down chemicals production plant in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The company acquired Farrell (US) and bolstered its position in land remediation by acquiring UK company Dunton. Meanwhile, in France, Menard opened a contaminated-soil treatment and recovery facility in the Eure department in Normandy.
Terre Armée (7% of revenue), a specialist in engineered backfills and soil-structure interaction, posted strong growth in Asia. In India, it built the world’s tallest reinforced earth structure in a town where a massive landslide had taken place. Its main projects elsewhere included the Andina open-pit copper mine in Chile, the I-66 highway in Virginia in the US, Montreal’s Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) in Canada and a railway line in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Freyssinet (19% of revenue), which specialises in structures, posted its strongest growth in France, Asia and Australia. In construction, Freyssinet supplied and installed the stay cables for the Saemangeum bridge in South Korea and for the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway in the Philippines. The company also produced the prestressed floors for the Hekla tower in La Défense (west of Paris), as well as the 392 spherical bearings for the extensive Arctic LNG project in Russia. The largest structural repair projects included rehabilitating the Kariba dam in Zambia, refurbishing the summit of a high-rise in Sydney, Australia, and reinforcing the Brotonne bridge’s pylons in Normandy, France. Freyssinet also provided expertise in prestressed concrete construction methods on numerous projects worldwide.
Nuvia (10% of revenue), a specialist in nuclear operations and services, built its business volume back to pre-crisis levels, principally with projects at a number of nuclear plants in France as well as work on the system to monitor radiation at airports in the Czech Republic.
Sixense (2% of revenue) continued to expand its structure monitoring, condition survey and modelling business activities. It pooled its expertise in projects led by other VINCI Construction entities (such as the HS2 rail line in the United Kingdom and the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine tunnel in Montreal, Canada) and applied it in its own projects, for example providing monitoring services at Abu Dhabi International Airport in United Arab Emirates.