More than two million people live in an area of 105 km² in Paris, which corresponds to around 21,000 inhabitants per square kilometre, making Paris the most densely populated city in Europe. The metropolis is therefore set to merge into a new “Grand Paris” with numerous neighbouring communities of the Île de France. The Grand Paris Express métro network expansion is being carried out under the leadership of the Société du Grand Paris (SGP). With 220 km, the Parisian métro network is already Europe’s fourth-largest network after London, Moscow and Madrid. The Grand Paris Express will add automatic lines over 200 km of new tracks as well as 68 new stations, which will exceed what is currently the longest network in Europe, the London Underground (402 km). The Grand Paris Express has been under construction since 2015, with expected completion in 2030. In addition to the expansion of métro lines 11 and 14, four new lines (15, 16, 17 and 18) will be created with the main aim of efficiently connecting the metropolitan area and outer districts with one another. 

Line 16, which will be completely underground, will cover about 27.5 km and connect the suburbs to the north and east of Paris. There will be 10 stations on the line. Three stations and a maintenance depot will be shared with Line 17. 8 stations will also have connections to other lines of the Paris transport network. The fischer FIS EM Plus injection mortar is used, among other things, to connect the floor slabs to the retaining walls. Here, the chemical fixing system ensures safe and fast progress on the construction sites. The mortar makes it possible to clean boreholes with water instead of blowing them out at great expense and causing dust and smoke. Another plus is that the FIS EM Plus can be stored very easily. An extra heated room or container is not necessary for this. The epoxy resin mortar must simply not freeze. 

Other advantages include the permanent safety of the FIS EM Plus. In the construction industry, the Eurocode standards for standard structures assume an expected service life of 50 years. However, even higher requirements apply to the "Grand Paris Express" project. This is because a guaranteed service life of 100 years is stipulated for important and large infrastructure projects, such as subway tunnels, viaducts and nuclear power plants. The products used must also have this longevity. In the case of chemical fixing with the FIS EM Plus injection mortar, fischer applied for a European Technical Assessment (ETA) specifically for this purpose, in order to be able to provide the proof of product performance required for Europe. "Our products meet the technical requirements of the applications in the construction of the 'Grande Paris Express' lines," says Jean-Marc Berg, Managing Director of the fischer subsidiary in France. "In addition to the quality of our fastening solutions, competitive prices and high product availability play a key role." However, the many services are also important, he adds. "We convinced our clients with our visits to construction sites for on-site support, the fast and precise responsiveness of our technical department to develop custom-fit, project-specific solutions, and our much more," Jean-Marc Berg emphasizes. 

In addition to Line 16, the competence of the fixing expert fischer was also applied to the fully underground Ring Line 15, which will circle Paris beyond the city’s boundary. The line will contain 36 stations over 75 km, serving 19 communities. There are also plans to allow changes to other lines of the Paris traffic network. 77,000 fischer RSB resin capsules in the RSB 8 and RSB 12 mini variants are being used together with RG M anchor rods in the corresponding sizes to anchor cable runs to the wall and to fasten suspension brackets and steel panels for cable support systems to the roof using overhead installation. Here the RSB resin capsules can be used together with their system components for simple and quick overhead installation without having to wait thanks to their fast curing was another decisive factor. The European Technical Approval (ETA) Option 1 for cracked concrete including seismic stresses in performance categories C1 and the suitability for fire resistance class R 120 provide added security.

The drill holes for the chemical anchorages were created with little drill dust using the fischer FHD hollow drill attached to an SDS Plus drill hammer. With its two vacuum holes at the tip of the drill and its hollow cylindrical shaft, the FHD immediately vacuums up dust, which made it ideal for the overhead applications during the tunnel constructions of the Grand Paris Express line 15. It protects users’ lungs against hazardous dust that contains quartz which occurs during drilling, cleaning out and brushing drill holes. It also prevents errors when cleaning the drill hole, which can impair the fixing’s performance. 

fischer heavy-duty fixings were previously used during the expansion of the existing line 14 to securely fasten the console systems of the power lines. The company continuously demonstrates its fastening know-how in the construction of the "Grande Paris Express" lines.