A – COMPLETION OF THE PORT INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS

The Quay

TCompleted in February 2004, the 1,602 metres of diaphragm wall constitute the quay wall for the first four quay berths (that is 1,400 utilisable metres). The capping beam, which supports the front running rail for gantry cranes and the rear running rail were also completed on a utilisable length of 1,400 linear metres. From the end of 2004, the back-up areas have been made available to operators to develop their terminal, the arrival of the first gantry cranes being scheduled for mid-October 2005.

The breakwaters

In all, more than 46 million cubic metres of materials have been dredged and the major part of them has been used for the construction of the breakwaters and back-up areas. Completed on July 29th, 2003, the inner breakwater (3,200 m), also called enclosing breakwater, delimits the future back up areas (for the berths located west of the first four). The outer protection breakwaters have been completed since November 6th, 2004 (the caisson-pierheads were floated on site in May 2004) and their superstructure is also completed. Their protection is carried out by rock-fills and Accropode® artificial concrete blocks (about 32,000 units have been made) as well as by a capping beam. A last dredging campaign is scheduled for the end of the year 2005, the coming-on-stream of Port 2000 being scheduled for the first six months of 2006.

B – UPDATE ON THE IMMEDIATE SERVICE LINKS

As early as their coming-on-stream, Port 2000 terminals will be directly connected with road and rail modes. As the site developer, the Port of Le Havre Authority has initiated the works for the service links of Port 2000 as soon as late 2003, preparing the railway platforms of Port 2000 and creating the draining basins and network north of the future terminals so that the operators could develop their terminal.

Rail service links

The Port of Le Havre Authority is the contracting party for the rail immediate service links of the first phase of Port 2000 and the SCETAUROUTE Company is the project manager. The rail track platforms called northern lines (behind the future terminals) and the construction of 2,500 metres of rail tracks were completed in June 2005. The operating equipment for level crossing and rail switches are under installation. . A second rail track, called southern line, with a dedicated main rail network, will be constructed in 2005/2006.

Road links As for road links, the first phase of construction of the roadways serving the western entry is over. The construction of a 10-lane covered checkpoint (whose functions will be likely to evolve in time), has started this summer and will be completed by the end of the year 2005. The works for the inner service links will include : - the construction of roadways connecting the roundabout of Port 2000 with the “terminal de France” of GMP and the southern breakwater of Port 2000, -the service link the other terminals in the southern boundary of the CIM company. The excavation work prior to the construction of the structure located east of Port 2000 (called structure n° 4) was completed in January 2005. In the autumn of 2005, 390,000 m3 of materials – said to be for pre-filling – will be placed on site on a length of 750 metres. They constitute the body of the future structure which will permit to lower the crossroads between the Estuary highway and the railway line, by the year 2006, and the road will then go over the railway track. For safety reasons, a double screen-wall, made up of filled containers, is installed between Port 2000 and the CIM oil terminal. The first phase of the construction works for roadways and foundations of this wall was completed in in early 2005. The first containers were installed in september 2005 (duration of the works 3 to 4 months). Installed for the end of the year, the walls are made up of about 900 new containers (said to be ‘first-voyage’ as they have carried goods from their place of origin to Le Havre) filled with sand and gravel coming from Port 2000 dredging operations.

River links As for river links, the organisation of the inland service links with Port 2000 has been entrusted to an operator : the SAITH – ‘Société d’Aménagement des Interfaces Terrestres du Havre’ (Development Company for Le Havre Inland Interfaces) -. The selected project plans to set up a common operation for all rail and river traffic of the south container terminals of the port of Le Havre on the following basis : - a dedicated river terminal (located in the western part of the ‘quai de l’Europe’), - a rail yard behind the Port 2000 terminals including four rail tracks of 1,100 utilisable metres, served by 2 rail gantries, - a system of rail shuttles transferring containers between these two poles and the main rail networks located east of Port 2000 (Port 2000 and Bougainville) in which the traffic of the terminals of Normandie, Ocean and Port 2000 will be handled.

C – LANDSCAPED DEVELOPMENTS Between the screen-wall and the CIM, 620 trees (Italian poplars) were planted in February 2005 : They will form, in the long term, the landscaped screen hiding the CIM tanks from the left bank of the river Seine. At the same time, a landscaped action for the immediate service links of Port 2000 is planned : it means the setting-up of large green areas, planted with bushes of trees, water surfaces and landscaped ditches and the planting of plants being local species as well as various kinds of grass on the roundabouts.