Egisā Digital Collaboration for the Canal Seine Nord Europe Project
Organization: Egis
Project Name: Canal Seine Nord Europe ā Digital Collaboration and Sustainability Initiative
Location: Hauts-de-France region, France
Project Phase: Ongoing infrastructure development with digital collaboration
Expected Completion Date: Long-term infrastructure project
Bentley Software: ProjectWise, MicroStation, OpenRoads, Bentley LumenRT
Additional Context: Egis is leading the development of a high-capacity canal expected to shift millions of tons of freight from road to river annually, reducing over a million heavy vehicle journeys in France and saving more than 50 million tons of COā over 40 years. Using ProjectWise as a common data environment, the team improved productivity by over 40%, managed 128,600 files and 1.2 TB of data, and enhanced sustainability through digital design reviews and environmental impact analysis.
Project
The Canal Seine Nord Europe is a major infrastructure project in the Hauts-de-France region, France, designed to create a high-capacity waterway linking CompiĆØgne to Aubencheul-au-Bac. Its goal is to shift freight transport from road to river, reducing road traffic by over a million heavy vehicles in France and 2.3 million across Europe. Over 40 years, the project is expected to save more than 50 million tons of COā, supporting climate and sustainability goals. Led by Egis, the project leverages advanced digital tools for collaborative design, environmental management, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring technical excellence, safety, and ecological responsibility.
Facts
- The canal will pass through 64 municipalities in the Hauts-de-France region and will feature seven locks, 62 road and rail reconnections, three aqueducts (including one spanning 1,330 meters over the Somme River), 10 freight transshipment quays, and over 1,200 hectares of environmental development areas
- Once completed, the project will enable wide-gauge boats to carry up to 4,400 tons of goods each, the equivalent of 220 trucks, making it possible to transport 17 million tons of goods a year
- To date, the project has involved the creation of 128,600 files, including 1,100 numerical models, which were shared and accessed in ProjectWise by 370 users
Solution
ProjectWise was used to establish a common data environment (CDE). This platform provided 370 users with secure and accessible, up-to-date information, managing over 128,600 documents and 1.2 terabytes of data. This was crucial for maintaining productivity and collaboration, especially during the pandemic and beyond. Through ProjectWise, digital design reviews and automated clash detection enabled the dispersed project team to identify and resolve design inconsistencies efficiently. This digital approach not only improved efficiency and collaboration, but also supported the project’s sustainability goals by enabling the analysis of environmental impacts prior to construction.
The project team utilized a full suite of Bentley applications, including MicroStation and OpenRoads, to support their BIM workflows. The digital model served as the single source of truth, enabling parallel work across various disciplines like hydraulics, geotechnical engineering, and road design without creating information silos. To optimize stakeholder engagement and decision-making, Egis created realistic renderings of the project with Bentley LumenRT, helping to visualize its scale and environmental integration, particularly for protected sites.
Outcome
The use of ProjectWise led to a reported overall productivity increase of more than 40% and significant time savings, including a 60% reduction in the federated model generation process. The implementation of validation workflows ensured the monitoring and traceability of documents at various stages of production and delivery.
In addition to producing traditional 2D deliverables based on BIM models, Egis also established a digital as-built record for the long-term asset management of the projected installations.
Software
Discover how ProjectWise can improve infrastructure project delivery with better collaboration, data management, and sustainability outcomes.
Bentley Year in Infrastructure (YII) and the Going Digital Awards is an annual event where global industry leaders come together to showcase infrastructure delivery and performance excellence and exchange visionary ideas for the future. Find out more on the YII site.
