The port of Sète on the Mediterranean sea has undergone a transformation to meet rising container trafic demand. Soletanche Bachy France and Balineau, a specialist subsidiary of Soletanche Bachy, built Quay H, with a length of 470 metres and a depth of 14.5 metres.

Work got under way in September 2014 with the construction of a dike. It continued in 2015 with vibrocompaction work carried out by Soletanche Bachy’s sister company Menard to improve the ground and the construction of a 530 metre long, 29.5 metre deep diaphragm wall.

To retain the diaphragm wall, 70 passive anchors consisting of 160 mm diameter steel rods – some of France’s largest– were installed. The project continued in 2016 with civil engineering, earthworks, controlled modulus columns, marine works and installation of quay equipment.

Handed over in the autumn of 2016, the structure capped two years of works involving the full range of the Group’s techniques.