Some historical background :
In 2014 the public French-Italian promoter “Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin” (TELT) was given the responsibility of the construction of the trans-alpine rail link Lyon-Turin. The maintenance workshop Fret located in St Jean de Maurienne had to be relocated for the needs of the project.
In 2017 the FRET management chose the site of Modane because it already had rail installations, service lines, a turntable and a historical rotunda consisting of 14 covered railway lines dating from 1895.
The Modane railway station is an international exchange station where heavy trains weighing up to 1600 tons circulate. At least six different railway companies pass through there as well.
This new preventive and curative maintenance workshop is thus in a strategic location in terms of parking and maintaining interoperable locomotives. These engines make it possible to circulate on both the French and Italian networks without changing material.
A “shield”, the guidance element of the pantographs and the electricity supply of the catenary, is associated with this rotunda and this turntable. The shield must be made-to-measure according to the rotunda’s configuration, its accommodation capacity and the disposition of the garages. In the case of the Modane rotunda, the shield is equipped with 19 anchoring clips making it possible to supply 5 arrivals and 14 garages.
Source : Fret – Auvergne Rhône-Alpes
Each anchoring clip must be positioned with extreme precision in order to meet the requirement of the site’s location.
Source : Galland
The assembly of the anchoring clips
Source : Galland
The assembly of the anchoring clips on the shield is carried out by caulking. The first step requires heating the pins before proceeding with the caulking with the help of a sledge hammer.
Source : Galland
Source : Galland
GALLAND’s know-how and the skills of its collaborators make the production of such shields possible. We are probably the only company in France producing shields.
In our teams, we are fortunate to have Alain who trained as a coppersmith. His know-how corresponds exactly to the manufacturing process. The coppersmith’s craft is the noble, artistic version of the occupation of boiler maker. It first appeared in the 14th century and refers to all the arts of metal working by hammering. It originated in the town of Dinant in Belgium.
GALLAND’s know-how meets our clients’ needs.
