MARKET
WATCH
2010: Project launches;
reconfiguration of
underground roads begins
2012: Canopy
construction begins;
demolition of old
pavilions complete
2013: Canopy
construction completed;
renovation of RER train
station concourse begins
2014: Renovation of
section of garden and
reconfiguration of surface
roads begins
2015: Reconfiguration
of underground roads
completed
2016: Reconfiguration of
surface roads completed;
passenger concourse
renovation completed
Layers of Complexity
The mall and RER station—Europe’s largest underground train station—
encompass six underground levels. Workers on upper levels had to take steps
to ensure their tasks
didn’t interfere with
work below them, and
vice versa. Coordinating
work among so many
layers was made more
difficult because project
managers rarely could
draw on standards from
projects past. And even
when they could, surprises awaited.
For instance, when
contractors began
demolishing walls to remodel the train station, they discovered the thickness
and construction of some walls didn’t match architectural plans the project
team had reviewed. And the thickest walls had lots of lead and asbestos, which
required extra remediation work for which the team had not planned. Mr. de
Lanversin’s team met with state-owned public transportation operator RATP at
least once a week to discuss increasingly difficult hazardous materials removal,
among other things.
In the end, the train station remodel took a year longer than slated and was
14 percent over budget, Mr. de Lanversin says. “We constantly had to readjust
schedule and planning.”
Renderings of a tunnel
entrance and the new
RER train station,
below
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