Brest cable car (France)


The first urban cable car in France has been linking the two banks of the Penfeld river in Brest for the last few weeks. It connects the Siam and Les Capucins districts and fits perfectly into a port and industry environment.

The cable car travels a length of 420 m, reaching a height of 65 m in an urban context, i.e. a sensitive environment.

The BOUYGUES / BMF consortium won the construction contract for this cable car system in 2014. TERRASOL was assigned through SETEC to conduct the foundations studies.

One of the issues raised by the project concerned the absorption of the tensile forces (several hundred tons) transmitted to the supports during cable car operation: a system of anchoring by pre-stressed tie-rods was used to anchor one of the supports firmly into the Brest gneiss, a highly metamorphized rock of magmatic origin.

The upper station and the pylon below are anchored using micropiles cleverly placed to reduce interfering efforts. Lastly, the studies considered the seismic context in the framework of this structure which is ranked in the importance category I.

TERRASOL was involved in all the phases of this pioneering project, which was inaugurated in mid-November 2016.

Terrasol’s achievements:


  • Studies of the foundations of the stations and pylons
  • Taking into account the seismic context
Characteristics
PERIOD :  2014 - 2016
Owner : Brest Métropole
Client : Consortium Bouygues / BMF
Main specifications :  

  • The first urban cable car in France
  • Length of 420 m, and maximum height of 65 m