ARCADIS' French subsidiary has been selected by the City authorities of Paris to cover a section of the Paris ring road, the boulevard périphérique. The project concerns the covering of the Porte de Vanves in the south of Paris. ARCADIS – in association with SEGIC-Ingéniérie and Alain Spielmann as the architect – is responsible for the total project management of this complex project. The consortium fee amounts to approximately EUR 2.3 million, of which more than EUR 1.3 million for ARCADIS.

The 35-kilometres boulevard périphérique with an average traffic load of 120,000 vehicles a day is already covered over a 5.8-kilometres length. At three different sections, 2 kilometres in total will be added to the covering, representing an investment sum of EUR 200 million. The covering should reduce the noise hindrance for adjacent buildings and re-establish the urban continuity between Paris and its suburbs. Furthermore, improvement of the local urban environment is a major point of interest.

In cooperation with its partners ARCADIS provides an integrated approach in which numerous architectural, environmental and functional requirements have been taken into account. The space on top of the covering, for example, will be used for various purposes, among which recreational facilities, green areas and roadways.  It is an excellent example of multiple space use. Furthermore, due to the available expertise within the team, innovative techniques and materials can be applied, such as high performance concrete, which requires a thinner cover and consequently helps matching the adjacent structure levels. In addition, this project needs to give insight how industrial technology in the field of air treatment – through which polluted air is cleaned prior to ejection –could be applied to this tunnel.