VINCI - 2005 annual report

A RESPONSIBLE GROUP / R&D AND INNOVATION
R&D and innovation
Innovation is the linchpin of VINCI’s sustainable development approach as it
provides solutions to issues of quality, safety and environmental protection.
The Group’s innovation policy combines strong impetus at corporate level
with initiatives developed by the business units to provide customers and users
with safer and more environmentally friendly infrastructure that will stand
the test of time.
More than
2,400 employees
participated
in the VINCI
Innovation Awards
Competition,
submitting a total
of 994 projects.
144
VINCI 2005 ANNUAL REPORT
VINCI 2005 INNOVATION
AWARDS COMPETITION
With the aim of developing the Group’s
creative potential and promoting the
innovations of its employees, VINCI
organises the VINCI Innovation Awards
Competition every two years. This major
competition is open to employees all
over the world. The 2005 edition was
particularly productive, with 994 projects
submitted by over 2,400 employees, which
is 35% more participants than the previous
competition. A total of 123 regional
awards were made in the fi rst phase of the
competition. The 12 fi nal winners
(see below) were handed their awards
at a ceremony attended by more than
2,000 people at the Cité des Sciences et de
l’Industrie in La Villette, Paris. To encourage
employees throughout the Group to make
full use of these innovations, all the projects
submitted in 2005 (and those submitted
in earlier competitions) are posted on the
VINCI intranet.
The 12 fi nal winners
Grand Prize.
Suspension bridge cables using
Cohestrand (Kanne bridge - Belgium):
an innovative process for increasing the durability of the
cables supporting a suspension bridge (see p. 94).
Materials Prize.
An overpass superior in every way:
a bridge in ultra-high performance fi bre-reinforced
concrete that reinvents the prefabricated section method.
Services Prize.
System for measuring speed and
intervehicular distances on the motorway
and informing drivers: an educational way
of contributing to the national road safety campaign.
Processes and Techniques Prize.
Floating foundations on the Monestier
viaduct: a solution for building a structure on loose
ground.
Equipment and Tools Prize.
A roller for lubricating formwork: a system
that protects the environment and improves working
conditions.
Management Prize.
Papyrus: a tablet PC equipped with software allowing
the foreman to enter fi eld data directly into the
centralised IT system; it also has a messaging system
and gives access to the intranet (see p. 73).
Sustainable Development Prize.
Finished product packaging waste
reduction: replacement of binder packaging
by low-density polythene bags that can be recycled
into the binder.
Safety Prize.
Safe handling of cable drums with
a new transport trolley: a new trolley
for easy and safe cable drum handling.
Special Synergies Prize.
Global management of worksite waste:
Group synergies for better waste management.
Special Skilled Worker Prize.
Picvert-hook for handling manhole
covers that can be fi tted to a pick:
a hook that helps avoid accidents when removing
cast iron manhole covers.
Special Communication Prize.
Eurovia homepage in Germany /
Ongoing projects internet presence:
a comprehensive description on the Web
of construction works keeps customers and road
users abreast of projects under way at Eurovia
Deutschland.
Special Ingenuity Prize.
The friction wheel: a transfer system
using a conveyor without telescopic arms
(see p. 58).