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OPTIMUM Southwest : New year, new offices !
6 January 2025
As the new year rolls in, OPTIMUM is moving its business in southwest France to new offices in Toulouse. The new premises, along with a growing team, reflect OPTIMUM’s continued success and its commitment to strengthening its proximity to customers in the region’s trenchless industry.
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It’s not just multinationals that are concerned about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)!
30 October 2024
FACT : Electronic waste makes up to 70% of toxic waste present in the environment.
OPTIMUM is excited to partner up with leading construction engineering school @ESTP, by donating its recycled laptops to the @FondationESTP; the first machines were recently delivered to the school’s main campus in Cachan, near Paris.
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Trenchless workshops
2 April 2024
Delighted to have hosted key French project owners on Tuesday for the second edition of OPTIMUM’s “Trenchless Workshops” (“Les Ateliers du Sans Tranchée”). Colleagues from Enedis, RTE, Teréga and Trapil came together to discuss issues arising from their current trenchless projects, with FGA and ACA providing expert opinion and advice.
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OPTIMUM in full force at JT Marseille
30 November 2023
Great to meet a wide variety of players from the energy and utility industry in Marseille on Tuesday for the FSTT’s technical day (“Les Journées Techniques”). OPTIMUM’s specialist engineers welcomed project owners as well as drilling / tunnelling contractors from all over France to discuss both current and future trenchless projects.
The stand also hosted the signature of an agreement between the DCA (European Drilling Contractors Association) and the FSTT to harmonise European HDD technical guidelines.
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Another successful DCA Congress
9 October 2023
Great to be in Leipzig last week for another successful DCA Congress, where the theme was “The importance of HDD in energy transition”. Trenchless engineers, drilling contractors and suppliers from around Europe once again came together to discuss current and future industry issues and technical advances.
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Appointment of Guillaume Bezombes
5 October 2023
Delighted to welcome Guillaume Bezombes who joins OPTIMUM this week as Director for southwestern France, based in our new office in Toulouse.
Guillaume brings with him a wealth of experience in construction and trenchless works, including 8 years heading up one of the country’s leading drilling contractors, unparalleled technical knowledge and a thorough understanding of the distinct and complex geology of the southwest.
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Trenchless workshops
15 June 2023
Delighted to have welcomed some of France’s key project owners this week for the first edition of OPTIMUM’s “Trenchless Workshops” (“Les Ateliers du Sans Tranchée”). Colleagues from GRTgaz, RTE and Teréga were able to exchange ideas around themes most pertinent to their own ongoing projects, be they in the study or the execution phase.
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International expansion
30 March 2023
Proud to see our international growth continue !
With more new projects in Italy, UK, Poland, Brazil and Ivory Coast, OPTIMUM’s trenchless expertise continues to be recognised, not only by French contractors working abroad, but directly by international clients.
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Happy anniversary !
2 February 2023
Proud to celebrate OPTIMUM’s 5-year anniversary this week, coinciding with the completion of its 650th trenchless project. Over 120 000 linear metres of drilling/tunnelling having now designed and supervised, including 20 km of microtunnel, 30 km of landfalls and 70 crossings under railway lines.
OPTIMUM engineers continue to deliver tailor-made solutions to project owners, engineering consultancies and drilling contractors to optimise operations and minimise geotechnical risks on trenchless jobsites around the globe.
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Avoiding breakouts in HDD
1 December 2022
Avoiding breakouts is one of the biggest challenges in HDD work, especially in rural and protected environments. Ensuring the drill path is adapted to both the geology of the site and the pipe being installed is key.
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DCA annual congress
13 October 2022
Last week’s DCA congress, held in the UK, was a truly pan-European event and a great knowledge sharing opportunity.
In the “Role of drilling mud in the borehole” workshop, facilitated by François Gandard (OPTIMUM), Marco Reinhard (LEONARD WEISS), Henning Söker (AMC EUROPE) and Krzysztof Debicki (HEADS), trenchless engineers, drilling contractors and fluid manufacturers shared expertise and discussed the importance of drilling fluid in the success of an HDD crossing.
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International expansion
7 July 2022
OPTIMUM continues to expand its international reach with new projects in Asia, Africa and South America. Following on from the conception of 2 outfall projects off the coast of Sri Lanka, engineers recently completed the geotechnical analysis and modelling for a significant microtunnel project in Cambodia.
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Ovale & Sens win French championships
12 May 2022
Big congratulations to Ovale & Sens who won the French adapted rugby championship this weekend in Grenoble, with a hard fought 10 – 9 win in Sunday’s final. This latest victory comes after the club was crowned Ile-de-France champions in March.
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The importance of fluid confinement pressures
14 April 2022
Urban microtunnel projects must ensure that works have minimal impact on both the environment and nearby infrastructure. The importance of determining the fluid injection pressures the ground can withstand is increasingly being recognised by both project owners and drilling contractors.
Using unique software and analysing the specific geotechnical conditions, OPTIMUM engineers precisely calculate these values prior to tunnelling, to minimise the risk of break outs, uplifts, and ground settlements and to ensure the smooth running of jobsite operations.
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Pre-tender site visits : the G2 DCE mission
17 March 2022
Great to have accompanied RTE recently on pre-tender site visits in Le Coudray and Romainville. Indeed, visiting a site with the project owner and potential drilling / tunnelling contractors often significantly increases the quality of submissions.
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Happy anniversary !
17 February 2022
Just days after its 4-year anniversary, OPTIMUM celebrates the completion of its 500th trenchless project this week, having designed and supervised over 75 000 linear metres of drilling/tunnelling, including 10 km of microtunnel, 20 km of landfalls and 50 crossings under railway lines.
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DCA representative for France
2 December 2021
OPTIMUM is proud to see the appointment of François GANDARD as the representative of the DCA in France.
The DCA (Drilling Contractors Association) regroups the main actors in Europe’s horizontal directional drilling market and aims to promote good practices, gather and share feedback, and organize specialized training for industry professionals.
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DCA Congress
12 October 2021
Last week’s DCA congress in Bonn was a great knowledge sharing opportunity for Europe’s HDD professionals.
During the “Subsoil parameters” workshop, led by OPTIMUM’s François Gandard, DCA Vice-President Marc Schnau and Henk Kruse from Deltares, manufacturers, engineers and contractors from around the world discussed the often-complex issue of geotechnical data analysis, as well as other subjects, such as the identification of quick clays, rock testing results and the impact a poor understanding of the bedrock can have on budgets and planning.
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Milestones
24 June 2021
Since its creation, OPTIMUM has worked on 4 continents, designed over 350 trenchless projects and successfully accompanied 70 trenchless jobsites. Drawing on their recognised field experience, OPTIMUM engineers continue to provide invaluable support to customers, from the design to completion of their projects.
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Tender support
22 April 2021
Investing in trenchless expertise at the bidding stage not only demonstrates a contractor’s commitment to and understanding of a project, but also significantly increases the likelihood of winning the tender.
OPTIMUM engineers help drilling / tunnelling contractors analyse the technical dossiers in a tender package, validate geotechnical models and add value by ensuring the most appropriate trenchless technique and tools are proposed for the job. In addition, OPTIMUM will alert the contractor to potential geotechnical and / or geological risks that may otherwise go unnoticed, allowing for contingency plans to be made ahead of time, minimising downtime and, ultimately, saving money.
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No-Dig 2021
3 March 2021
The 2021 NASTT No-Dig Show was a bit different. What remained unchanged was the breadth and quality of knowledge sharing. OPTIMUM engineers were present remotely this year, accessing over 150 conferences on topics as varied as :
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From study to completion
8 October 2020
• Echirolles : a 65 metre-long urban pipe ramming project under the Grenoble ring road
• Brioude : a 140 metre-long HDD crossing to bypass new motorway construction
• Albias : 3 parallel 310 metre-long HDD crossings under the rural Aveyron river
Three projects, all in complex geotechnical and / or geological environments, in which OPTIMUM teams accompanied their clients from the very beginning to the very end of their trenchless projects. These recently completed, diverse gas pipeline projects all highlight the significant advantages in having OPTIMUM’s specialist engineers at the contracting authority’s side to analyse, develop and monitor trenchless projects from their inception (feasibility studies) through to works completion (onsite drilling supervision). A perfect understanding of the project history as well as all relevant geotechnical constraints allow for decisions to be taken quickly and for technical advice and monitoring to be more pertinent, minimizing risks and optimising operations.
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Réseaux VRD
7 September 2020
Understanding the full scope of a trenchless project and propose relevant solutions at every step of the way; the exhaustive article published in the latest edition of Réseaux VRD underlines the intelligence of OPTIMUM’s involvement in the Dordogne river crossing.
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250 projects and counting !
22 July 2020
In just 30 months, OPTIMUM has conceived over 250 trenchless projects, examining and supervising 51 000 linear metres of crossings as well as 15 km of landfalls. Its growing team of specialist engineers reinforces the pertinence of each assignment by optimising operations, cutting drilling costs and timeframes, minimising geotechnical risks and simplifying bore paths.
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G3 missions
20 December 2019
Contracting authorities are increasingly aware of the importance of geotechnical issues in trenchless projects, leading to an more G3 missions.
As such, OPTIMUM is expanding its offer to assist drilling contractors in controlling geotechnical risks and identifying possible deviations during drilling operations. Its most recent G3 contract will contribute to the extension of the hydraulic network in the Languedoc, south-west France in early 2020.
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30th SNCF railway crossing
5 November 2019
This week OPTIMUM will finalize its 30th railway crossing project. These must not only integrate a “classic” trenchless study but also adhere to the strict SNCF criteria necessary for drilling authorization. They enable the complexity and the multiple risks inherent in working under railway lines to be managed proactively and effectively.
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Ovale & Sens sponsorship
3 October 2019
La qualité d’une entreprise passe aussi par ses engagements éthiques. Alors que la Coupe du Monde de Rugby se poursuit au Japon, OPTIMUM est ravi d’annoncer son parrainage de l’association Ovale & Sens, club de rugby yvelinois qui s’adresse à des adolescents et adultes, femmes et hommes, en situation de handicap mental ou psychique.
Vice-champions de France du rugby adapté en 2017-2018 et vainqueur du bouclier Ile-de-France pendant la saison 2018-2019, l’équipe ne cesse de nous surprendre. Allez « Les Machines » !
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Landfall expertise expands overseas
17 August 2019
OPTIMUM broadens its international scope with an AMO contract in Portugal. The landfall project, with over 600 m of horizontal directional drilling (HDD), will link an offshore wind farm to the Portuguese coast.
This mission further highlights OPTIMUM's landfall expertise after other missions in France, Italy, Romania and the Reunion Island.
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OPTIMUM at VST 2019
19 June 2019
How to predict the resurgence of drilling fluids ?
François Gandard discussed the issue at the "HDD Forum" at the VST trade fair in Chatou, France from 18 - 19 June 2019 (lien vers PPT en pop up)
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The relevance of trenchless technology
6 June 2019
The trenchless technology focus dossier in this month’s edition of “Ingénierie Territoriale” magazine reinforces the relevance of these techniques in today’s congested environment Good preparation is the key to success !
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