For several months now, the construction site for metro 3, the future Brussels metro linking Forest to Evere, has been stopped at the future Toots Thielemans station.
At the origin of this stop, a tunnel which must pass under the imposing and historic Palais du Midi, located in the heart of the Stalingrad district.
The building, built in the 19th century by a private company in an attempt to boost commercial activity in this part of the central boulevards deemed less prestigious, would have been built on the old bed of the Senne, the emblematic Brussels river, vaulted (also) in the 19th century.
The 120 meters of tunnel to be dug under the Palace must therefore cross soil whose nature is considered to be very unstable, which would make the work particularly complex.
Initially, the consortium of contractors responsible for carrying out the work (Besix, Jan de Nul Group, Franki construct) relied on injecting concrete pillars into the ground to stabilize the structure. Problem: it’s expensive and long. 170 million euros and eight years of work… Far too much for STIB, which asked them to change their design and start work with wider piles, which they allegedly refused.
Result: the site has been on hold for a year