Paris 2024: where is the construction of infrastructure at D-1000? – franceinfo

1000 days, Saturday, from the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a large majority of the equipment that will be used has already been built, or will be ephemeral and certain infrastructures are emerging from the ground, such as the Olympic village and the aquatic center. The Olympic Works Delivery Company (Solideo) should deliver all of the infrastructure in early 2024, so that the organizers have one quarter to take possession of the premises and fit them out according to their expectations.

“We are quite confident about the delivery date of the set”, welcomes Isabelle Vallentin, deputy general manager of the Solideo. Today, nearly 8,000 people work on the infrastructure sites for the Paris 2024 Games, including a thousand in the Olympic Village. “We are on schedule, without forgetting to respect our environmental and social roadmap, with exemplary objectives in the construction method but also 10% of employees in the process of integration”, she adds.

Saint-Denis aquatic center

Located on the site of the “Saulnier plain”, near the Stade de France, the future aquatic center will host the waterpolo, diving and artistic swimming events in 2024. “Construction work started in September 2021, no delays are announced and the equipment will be operational from April 2024”, says Isabelle Vallentin.

On the other hand, the construction of the municipal swimming pool of Aubervilliers, which is to serve as a training basin, was suspended by the courts for an irregularity in the building permit and because the project encroached on allotment gardens.

The Olympic Village

Straddling the municipalities of Saint-Denis, Ile Saint-Denis and Saint-Ouen, the Olympic village will welcome 14,000 athletes and their accompanying persons in 2024. “The first work on the Olympic Village began in the second quarter of 2021 and there we are in the earthwork phase, to dig the foundations. All the cranes will be installed by the end of 2021”, explains Isabelle Vallentin. The aspect of biodiversity has not been forgotten: “Our teams are also in the process of selecting more than 8,000 trees in French nurseries and then planting them in the athletes’ village”, adds the deputy general manager of the Solideo. All the buildings will be delivered in early 2024.

The media village

In Dugny, in Seine-Saint-Denis, the media village projects have just started, with a delivery target from February 2024. “Apartments will accommodate 1,300 media professionals but other accommodation offers will also be offered since 24,000 journalists and technicians are expected”, says Isabelle Vallentin. They will stay near Le Bourget, where the media center, the site of the climbing and shooting events will be located. “The sports facilities of the current Plaine des Sports du Bourget are obsolete and will be refurbished, in particular a gymnasium which will be demolished and then rebuilt for climbing training and warm-ups”, completes the deputy director of the Solideo.

The Arena Porte de la Chapelle

One infrastructure should be delivered earlier than the others, from September 2023: the Arena Porte de la Chapelle. Construction work has started and the first stone was laid in early October by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. “It’s a simpler site than the aquatic center”, justifies Isabelle Vallentin. With a capacity of approximately 8,000 seats, the Arena will host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events at the Olympic Games, then those of para-badminton and para-weightlifting. But before that, Paris Basket should take its marks there at the end of the year 2023.

Renovations to plan

Among the sites to be renovated, the Yves du Manoir de Colombes stadium is a facility steeped in history, since it was the Olympic stadium during the 1924 Games. A century later, it will host field hockey events. Repair work has started and is expected to be completed in October 2023.

Further south, in Marseille, the Roucas-Blanc marina, which will host the sailing events, requires a reconfiguration of the basins. “The dredging of the basin and the work on the surrounding buildings will begin in the first quarter of 2022 with delivery scheduled for December 2023”, explains Isabelle Vallentin.

The thorny issue of transport

If the construction schedule for the Olympic infrastructure is respected, there will, on the other hand, be a delay in the commissioning of the transport offer, managed by the Société du Grand Paris. The future metro line 16, which was to link the sites of the Olympic Games in Seine-Saint-Denis, will be delivered two years late, in 2026. The start of line 17, which was to lead to Bourget, where the media village will be located, will also not be completed in time. Only the extension of line 14, which will link the Olympic village and Orly airport, should be put into service for the Games. Asbestos removal from the Aulnay-sous-Bois depot site and the health crisis had already delayed the works, then the accidental death of a worker in December 2020 had faced a TBM stationary for six months.