Thanks to the program "Les Grands Chantiers de Tisséo" broadcast on the Vià Occitanie channel, dive behind the scenes of the creation of the Toulouse metro. And in particular, in episode 3, on the use of two tunnel boring machines under the Canal du Midi near Ramonville, just a few minutes from Toulouse. A major technical challenge.
Two tunnels under the canal
The current line B will be extended in 2027, from "Ramonville", by two stations to provide a direct connection to the 3rd metro line at the "Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse" station., Tisséo.
Presented by Gil Bousquet, head of the Economy Division of La Dépêche du Midi, the program "Les Grands Chantiers de Tisséo" is broadcast on the site Vià Occitanie. For episode 3, the presenter was accompanied by Cécile Dufraisse, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of the river and canals, and by Vincent Conan, director of studies and projects at Tisséo Ingénierie.
Together, they returned to the extension of metro line B and presented the two special tunnel boring machines that will be embedded under the majestic Canal du Midi at the future Ramonville station. The opportunity to discover behind the scenes and the technical and aquatic prowess used to get the two stations out of (and under) the ground: Parc Technologique du Canal and Institut National Polytechnique, which will be shared with the future 3rd line.
When the metro meets the water
Concerning this new construction site where the tunnel boring machines are digging two 250-metre-long tunnels, it is therefore a real connection between the metro and the canal in Toulouse. "I would even say that there is a special cohabitation because these two infrastructures are intended to transport goods, men or women; and to go further, they also have the advantage of preserving or at least taking care of the environment that surrounds them", admits Cécile Dufraisse.
And this is not the first time that the metro has met the waters in such a harmonious way as the team recalls on set: "there are some on line A, the future Ramonville station, the one at Port Saint-Sauveur…".
Also read: 10 crazy and secret anecdotes about the Toulouse metro
A construction site that respects the environment
For this new station that will allow lines B and C to meet at Ramonville, Tisséo is doing a lot of work by using, in particular, new technologies that are more respectful of the environment. the environment. "It always remains a delicate operation because we are increasingly demanding on minimizing the environmental impacts of the construction site", explains Vincent Conan, who insists on the fact that local residents and the landscape are well preserved. And to add this particularity: "we reused a tunnel boring machine that was already used for line B", thus referring to a circular economy.
All concerned with the preservation of the Canal du Midi, the construction site is therefore constantly monitored to ensure that everything is respected: the banks, the trees, but also the quality of the water.
Other major construction sites for line C
This is one of the important junctions – the cost of this operation is estimated at 182.5 million euros – of the enormous construction site underway for the creation of metro line C (it will go to Labège). Jean-Luc Moudenc's deputy mayor points out that five stations are being created in the Pont-Jumeaux district and the latter assures us: "for the moment, it's going rather well since there are mediation teams constantly on the ground".
Stations eagerly awaited by local residents and which should be accessible from 2028 after more than four years of work.
