The Project
With a capacity of 540,000 passengers per day, Line 1 of the Abidjan Metro aims to improve mobility, ease urban traffic flow and enhance the quality of life in this rapidly growing metropolitan area of 5 million inhabitants.
With a total length of 37 km, this infrastructure will run through the heart of the Abidjan metropolitan area from north to south – running alongside the existing Abidjan-Ouagadougou-Kaya railway line for 32 km – through the districts of Anyama, Abobo, Adjamé, Plateau, Treichville, Marcory and Port-Bouët (airport).
- To minimise the impact of this infrastructure, which is mostly at ground level or on embankments, the following are planned: 21 rail and road bridge crossings, 34 footbridges, as well as, in the embankment sections, the construction of reinforced soil walls (VSoL) to reduce the footprint.
- Crossing the Ebrié lagoon between Plateau and Treichville requires the construction of a 500-metre-span viaduct, running parallel to the Félix Houphouët Boigny road and rail bridge.
- From north to south, the infrastructure is situated:
- In a landscape of plateaus and hills formed of lateritic clays, requiring the removal of soil and the construction of high embankments, subject to significant gullying,
- In a largely dry urban setting reinforced by the same steep clay formations,
- Then, descending towards the lagoon and on either side of it, there are loose sandy layers, bathed by a sub-surface water table
- Finally, beneath a water column of approximately 10 m, the lagoon bed consists of mud over a thickness of 40 m, overlying sand.
Our Missions
Involved from the preliminary design phase, Terrasol’s mission centred on three key areas:
- During the preliminary design phase: a general geotechnical review of the design: standard and non-standard engineering structures, stations, reinforced embankments, etc.
- During the detailed design phase: a review of structures or parts of structures presenting specific geotechnical challenges
- During the construction phase: monthly on-site expert visits: supervision of the local team, inspection of all structures, technical discussions with the construction consortium and the client…
Particular attention was paid from the design phase onwards to the Houphouët Boigny 2 Bridge, which spans the Ebrié Lagoon some two metres from the existing bridge, in a context of:
- Validation of geotechnical parameters, geotechnical investigations, design and construction choices, pile testing, etc.
- Assessment of the potential impacts of the construction and loading of the foundations of the new viaduct on the existing Houphouët Boigny Bridge,
- Ad hoc monitoring of pile construction
Partners
- Bnetd
- Setec ITS
- Setec Afrique
- Setec TPI
- Setec Inter
- Egis France
- Egis Côte d’Ivoire
Amount for the subsidiary
€700k
Design, construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure
- Abidjan Rail Transport Company (STAR)
- SICMA Consortium
- Colas Rail
- Alstom
- Keolis
Main contractor (civil engineering)
Ingerop
Key figures
- 37.4 km of infrastructure
- 18 stations
- 16 railway bridges
- 4 road bridges
- 1 viaduct over the lagoon
- 34 footbridges
- 8 underpasses 1 depot and maintenance centre
- 77,000 m² of reinforced embankment facing
Miscellaneous
Urban transport
