“The risk was the fall of a heavy goods vehicle on the D 824”

No sensationalism around the construction site of the exit ramp for Saint-Geours-de-Maremne, but still: “The risk was the fall of a heavy goods vehicle on the D824,” points out Éric Barlet, technical director and of the Atlandes company. The A 63 concessionaire is “responsible for the works which pass above our ramp”, in this case the portion which leads to interchange 9.

On this arm leading to Saint-Geours town, he is therefore responsible for the “replacement work on lateral restraint devices” which was motivated by “a combination of criteria. You have to imagine that the State has a grid with points. Considering the traffic of heavy goods vehicles on the structure, the traffic below, and the curve of the bridge, we ticked the box for a more resistant retaining device,” explains Éric Barlet.

Since October 21, the specialized company NGE, retained by Atlandes and its subcontractors, has been operating without feeling the wind from the vehicles. “It would be hell otherwise. Impossible,” imagines site manager Étienne Malot. In the space of a week, the dozen busy workers “demolished everything”, and meticulously. “We had to be very careful with the prestressed concrete cables,” continues the NGE civil engineering employee, at the risk of dangerously weakening the equivalent of the skeleton of this 80-meter suspended section.

Planets aligned

The new safety barriers, “bigger, higher”, must still be fixed in the fresh concrete, and, before resurfacing, the layers which ensure waterproofing must still be laid. “We are in the home stretch,” reassures the technical and operations director of Atlandes. Like any construction site, these suspended works seek the alignment of planets as soon as possible. In this sense, the weather made it possible to succeed in the number one construction challenge: “Meet deadlines”.

Scheduled over two months, the work will even save a week. “We should be finished by Friday December 13th but hey… Friday the 13th… Let's count on a resumption of traffic on Monday the 16th,” says Éric Barlet. Enough, in any case, to ward off the mirage of late penalties for this project, the cost of which is “between 300,000 and 400,000 euros”. Sometimes you have to move quickly on the road.

Deviations

Unable to access the town of Saint-Geours-de-Maremne via the bridge under construction and an exit from the RD 824 expressway, motorists are forced to change their route. Thanks to signage in place, a diversion invites vehicles to continue their route and take a portion of the A 63 motorway as far as exit 10, then to return to the town after having moved away from the artisanal zone of 'Atlantisud via the departmental road RD 810.
GPS and guidance applications offer a hazardous alternative. After leaving the RD 824 near Rivière-Saas-et-Gourby, the parallel road along this expressway allows you to get closer to the entrance to Saint-Geours-de-Maremne… Without being certain of getting there. Depending on the day, a barrier actually requires a turnoff towards Saubusse via the Escornebeou road, or a passage through a construction site area where the police seem to have become accustomed to it.