Banque de France
The new trust division of Banque de France is being built in La Courneuve in Seine-Saint-Denis. A truly gigantic, highly secure safety-deposit, made entirely of reinforced concrete, in order to be prepared against all temptations and eventualities...
Europe's largest and one of the most modern banknote processing centers will consolidate its sorting and warehousing activities from five locations in the Paris region in the first quarter of 2018. Every year, a quarter of the banknotes in circulation in France will be processed here, i.e. more than 1.5 billion banknotes! The building, designed by the architect Jean-Paul Viguier as a huge safe as recommended by the Atomic Energy Commission, presents sober and rational forms. Equipped with the latest security technologies to prevent robbery, it will withstand the most severe attacks.
Four different types of concrete made of cements from the HeidelbergCement subsidiary Ciments Calcia were utilized for the construction. Three of these were produced locally by the HeidelbergCement subsidiary Unibéton. The first concrete for the foundation was produced with i.tech ADDICEM, a cement selected for its high resistance to aggressive environmental influences, particularly the sulphates present in the Ile-de-France soil. The second concrete was used to build the elevations. It was produced with i.pro TECHNOCEM cement, which was selected for its easy demoulding properties. Finally, the ultra-steel concrete ceiling, which at the same time forms the roof of the building, was made with i.tech ULTRACEM cement due to its high mechanical performance.
The concrete ceiling is made up of five self-compacting concrete pillars. With a height of 25 meters and a cross section of 80 centimeters, a European record, they were also produced by Unibéton with i.tech ULTRACEM cement. Particularly suitable for reinforced concrete work requiring high final resistance, the cement has helped to meet the challenges associated with its realisation in two aspects: meeting high thixotropy criteria (concrete viscosity), while obtaining the very neat facing, without bubbling, required by the specifications.
