Tsurumi dries out the Mega-Metro
16.01.2024Half-time at the Metro Grand Paris project. The manufacturer Tsurumi has been supplying dewatering pumps right from the start. Now heavy-duty KTZ pumps are being added.
Paris Grand Express is a project of superlatives that sets standards even in France. Nothing works without proper dewatering
© Tsurumi
Grand Paris Express is the name of the ambitious infrastructure project in the French capital. A partially driverless metro network is to connect the suburbs and improve local transport. Four new lines are being built, two will be extended and existing ones modernised. The scope is considerable: With 227 km and 308 stations, the network is already the fourth largest in Europe. By the end of the project in 2030, another 200 km and 68 stations will be added.
Paris is sinking: In some places, it is over 30 m before the actual construction site is reached. Keeping the groundwater away is a tech challenge
© Société du Grand Paris / Gérard Rollando
Doubling the size
Tsurumi has been involved since the project was launched in 2016. The Japanese company with its EU headquarters in Düsseldorf/Germany, has equipped several construction sections with dozens of submersible pumps. At the end of 2023, the operators placed another order based on their positive experience. The new order includes a series of pumps especially from the KTZ model range. This pump is one of the most successful in the manufacturer's product range. It was developed for use in tunnelling and mining.
Tsurumi also supplies the KTZ pump series with practically fail-safe electrodes for level control. Thanks to Tsurumi's modular design, wear parts such as the impeller at the suction opening can be easily replaced by the operator on site
© Tsurumi
There are 17 types of this versatile submersible pump providing flow rates of up to 3960 l/min and a delivery head of 71 m. This includes the KTZ 415, which reaches 2000 l/min and 55 m. Its motor output of 15 kW is impressive. However, the 146 kg dry weight is a result of the robust design, which relies on resistant materials including chrome cast iron and silicon carbide with diamond-like hardness. The robust pump is built to fulfil the company's slogan "Stronger for longer".
30 m below Paris
The units keep the grounds dry and thus help to time the schedules. Three of the four new lines run in tunnels. Each tube with a diameter of 10 m will contain two tracks. The tunnels found at an average depth of 30 m and thus in the aquifer. Drainage is crucial for success: work can only continue when it is dry.
Scarred from use, but holding up: Tsurumi pumps in Paris
© Tsurumi
Tsurumi is probably one of the preferred partners for the project management because this supplier delivers from stock rather than on order: Almost all of the 500 pump models offered in the EU, with delivery capacities of up to 30 m3/min or 216 m head height, can be delivered within 24 hours, according to Tsurumi.
