Com.Unity News - Bouygues Construction s’engage en faveur du transport fluvial

Building sustainably

05 December 2022

Bouygues Construction commits to inland waterway transport

Pascal Minault, the CEO of Bouygues Construction, endorses an opinion piece in favour of inland waterway transport. With this endorsement, the group is showing its commitment to boosting the drive for cleaner industrial transport which is more beneficial to the region than transport by lorries.

In the face of the climate and energy emergency, it is imperative that we find alternative solutions to change the way we produce and transport materials. The use of low-energy transport is becoming a top priority among the solutions envisaged, particularly for the industrial sector. It is for this reason that Pascal Minault has just endorsed an article in favour of the Voies Navigables de France. This represents an opportunity for the effectiveness and attractiveness of our logistical services and for the quality of life in our regions. We are using this opportunity to look at the advantages of this mode of transport in an infographic.

The advantages of waterway transport

A solution for supplying construction sites which is in line with our climate strategy and benefits regions

Today, our construction sites, particularly in the Paris region, are mainly supplied by our subcontractors and suppliers, and these transport streams use road transport. By endorsing this opinion piece, Bouygues Construction is in accordance with its CSR strategy (the reduction of CO2 emissions on its construction sites, in particular as regards Scope 3A) and is also committing to improving conditions for regions by decongesting road traffic through reducing freight by truck, creating less noise pollution and reducing particle pollution in the air.

All professions, all business areas and all top management are involved in this ambitious initiative, and we’re working together with all our partner companies because it’s only together that we’ll be able to overcome this great challenge. Our climate strategy allows us to offer our customers innovative solutions. All stages, from the design of works to their operation, are planned to minimise the carbon impact of our activities and projects. We’re committed to reducing our direct and indirect emissions by at least 30% by 2030.
Claire Boilley-Forestier CSR Manager for Bouygues Construction in 2021

UrbanEra (Bouygues Immobilier) has entrusted the Environnement de Brézillon (Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France) with the landscaping and decontamination of over 400,000 tonnes of soil in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, with an excellent carbon footprint thanks to the transport of materials exclusively by river! Read more here.

Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France experimented with the supply of materials by river for three days at three of its construction sites. Read more here.

The redevelopment of the Saint-Michel Notre-Dame station on the RER C is a construction site where 60% of supplies and the majority of removal has been done by river transport. Read more here.

And what about Bouygues Travaux Publics? They have not been left out! On the Grand Paris Express T2A and T3A projects, as well as on the Eole and Méricourt projects: over 5.3 million tonnes of excavated material were removed by inland waterway transport by the end of 2022. Other projects were also trialled: the transport of materials and equipment during the Berges de Saint Omer project between Lille and Saint-Omer, and the Quesnoy/Deûle lock project.

In line with our climate strategy and our goal for a committed supply chain, new contracts with our partners require or strongly encourage river transport wherever the context allows.
Thibault Abergel Climate Strategy Manager at Bouygues Construction

Would you like to know more and would you like to use inland waterway transport on your construction sites? Please contact Honorine Haguet, Ecocentres and Logistics Manager at Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France Brézillon.