Ports

The Seine-North Europe Canal is a central link in the Seine-Escaut waterway system. It will enable wide-gauge barges to travel between France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, reaching an annual transport volume of 15 million tonnes of goods. The Société du Canal Seine-Nord-Europe asserts that its ambition is to make this canal a flagship project for environmentally sustainable transport and the energy transition, which is also in tune with local issues. By replacing a million lorry journeys a year, it will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Two public transhipment platforms are currently under construction at Pimprez and Ribécourt-Dreslincourt. Eventually, they will be linked to the local road network and then to the rail network.

EcoSheetPile™ Plus sheet piles for the Ribécourt and Pimprez quay walls: almost 4000 tonnes of CO2-eq saved

EcoSheetPile™ Plus low carbon emissions steel sheet piles were selected for these projects. They are produced in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from 100% recycled steel using the electric arc furnace process in ArcelorMittal's steelworks and rolling mills powered exclusively by electricity generated from renewable wind or solar sources. This product range benefits from an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) issued by the Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) in Germany and is based on a life cycle analysis carried out in accordance with standard NF EN 15804. The EcoSheetPile™ Plus range is part of the ArcelorMittal Group's XCarb® brand, which brings together all its low-carbon steel products and activities.

A life cycle assessment (LCA) [1] for sheet piles at the Pimprez and Ribécourt-Dreslincourt quay walls has been carried out to calculate greenhouse gas emissions during their manufacturing. It was carried out on the basis of three official EPDs: (1) EcoSheetPile™ Plus made through the electrical route with renewable electricity, (2) EcoSheetPile™ made through the electrical route with a standard energy mix, and (3) products from steel made through the primary route from coal and iron ore.

It was calculated that these nearly 2000 tonnes of low carbon emissions sheet piling prevented the emission of around 4000 tonnes of CO2-eq. compared with sheet piles that would have been produced by the primary route using iron ore and coal (716 tonnes of CO2-eq. compared with 4724 tonnes of CO2-eq. for the primary route). The exclusive use of electricity from renewable sources reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 29% compared with the standard energy mix for the electric furnace process in Luxembourg (716 tonnes of CO2-eq. compared with 1007 tonnes).

François Fohl, environmental specialist at ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling, confirms the value of life cycle analyses (LCA): "Our interactions with project owners, designers, and contractors have convinced us of the need to better assess the contribution of our products to the environmental impact of each project. We developed a very practical LCA tool for our steel sheet piles, based on the emissions values published in their official Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). We are now able to provide a detailed and accurate assessment of the global warming potential of the steel sheet piles we supply to each project, from the production of steel to the end-of-life of the infrastructure. With our support, project stakeholders now have all the data they need to optimise the design and reduce the environmental impact of their projects."

The Ribécourt-Dreslincourt quay

The Ribécourt-Dreslincourt quay consists of a double wall of sheet piles over a length of 150 m. The platform is approximately 20 m wide.

921 tonnes of EcoSheetPile™ Plus sheet piles in XCarb® recycled and renewably produced will be delivered for this part of the project.

Double wall dock: 965 t of steel, including

• 160 m of AZ 13-770 main wall: 205 t
• 160 m of AZ 12-770 anchor wall: 70 t
• 320 m of UPN double U-channels: 30 t
• Tie rods and accessories: 25 t
• 235 m of a combined wall HZ 880M A and AZ 24-700: 646 t

The Pimprez quay

Similar in design to the Ribécourt-Dreslincourt quay, the Pimprez quay is 50 m longer and its eastern connection is 30 m longer. It also features a combined wall of 1015 tonnes of EcoSheetPile™ Plus type HZ-M / AZ sheet piles from the XCarb® recycled and renewably produced range.

Double wall dock: 1080 t of steel, including

• 215 m of AZ 13-770 main wall: 250 t
• 215 m of AZ 12-770 anchor wall: 75 t
• 320 m of UPN double U-channels: 35 t
• Tie rods and accessories: 30 t
• 235 m of a combined wall HZ 880 M A and AZ 13-770: 690 t

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia

Images:
© NGE Fondations
© ArcelorMittal Europe

[1] Modules A1-A3 according to EN 15804: raw materials supply, transport, manufacturing

Full article: Marc Gratier de Saint Louis, sales engineer, ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling, for SolscopeMag June 2023

Related link(s)

Pimprez quay

Ribécourt-Dreslincourt quay

Durability version 4.1 was released in January 2023, but due to recent major changes in one of the program modules, a revised version of 4.1 was launched in July 2023. Durability is a free software that simplifies the choice of a steel sheet pile section, taking into account the durability of steel in different environments as well as the service life of the structure.

It is a simple and powerful tool for designs according to Eurocode 3 – Part 5 (EN 1993-5) or based on the Allowable Stress Design (ASD) method. The user only needs to input bending moments, shear forces, deflections, etc. that an engineer has calculated with geotechnical software.

Key features

An important feature is the option to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) where the user can adapt the reuse and recycling rates to a specific project. This is currently the first software in the world that can perform this calculation correctly for steel sheet piles – without the need to be an expert.

Other features include:

• Several scenarios can be analysed in a single file: For instance, this allows the user to compare a solution with a Z-type to a U-type section or to do a sensitivity analysis on key parameters such as steel grades or corrosion rates.
• Optimisation of the main wall and optionally of an anchor wall, at multiple elevations: The user can now verify the sheet piles at different elevations in a single file, either by importing data from a text file (specific format) or by entering data manually.
• The sheet pile can be subdivided into numerous exposure zones to take into account the different loss of steel thickness per zone.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Multiple scenarios based on ArcelorMittal’s Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) can be performed – the user can adapt the reuse and recycling rates to a specific project.
• The design of tie rods, bolts, and plates for anchored walls according to EN 1993-5 and for Z-type piles according to a dedicated design method developed in collaboration with the German manufacturer Anker Schroeder: This is a unique feature available exclusively in Durability!
• Printing of the results has been enhanced

Download the revised version of Durability 4.1 for free on our Software page.

Text:
ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling
Constructalia

Images:
ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling
ArcelorMittal

Related link(s)