Freyssinet India recently achieved a significant milestone at the Hooghly Project. Could you tell us more about this accomplishment?
The Vidyasagar Setu—widely known as the Second Hooghly Bridge—is one of Kolkata’s most iconic structures and a lifeline for the city’s daily commuters. At Freyssinet India, we had the honour of undertaking a highly specialised task: the first-ever stay cable replacement project in India.

The project involves replacing 19 ageing stay cables and 16 holding-down cables with the advanced Freyssinet Parallel Strand Stay Cable System, which significantly enhances structural reliability and long-term durability. What makes this initiative particularly challenging is that the entire operation is carried out with live traffic, ensuring minimal disruption for the public. We adopted a specialised Freyssinet methodology involving temporary anchorages, temporary cable installation, sequential load transfers, removal of distressed cables, and the installation of new stay cables—all monitored in real-time through an advanced Structural Health Monitoring System.

What are the key areas of expertise that Freyssinet India offers under the Freyssinet brand?
Freyssinet is part of the VINCI Group, one of the world’s largest privately owned concessions and construction companies, with operations spanning over 100 countries, and the largest private airport and road concessions operator globally. We are a 100% subsidiary of Soletanche Freyssinet, France, belonging to the VINCI Speciality Network (part of Vinci Group, a Euro 73 billion company). This strong global lineage provides Freyssinet India access to world-class engineering expertise, innovation and governance standards.

Under the Freyssinet brand, we offer a comprehensive range of solutions across the construction lifecycle. Our expertise spans prestressing systems, stay cables, bearings, expansion joints, construction methods and specialised engineering applications. We are deeply involved in bridge construction, rail and metro infrastructure, marine structures, underground works and large-scale civil engineering projects.

Could you tell us about the repair projects currently being undertaken by Freyssinet India?
Repair and rehabilitation form a critical pillar of Freyssinet’s expertise, globally delivered under our FOREVA® brand. FOREVA® is recognised worldwide for its leadership in structural repair, rehabili-tation, retrofitting, strengthening, monitoring and investigation across bridges, dams, heritage structures, buildings, tunnels, ports and water infrastructure. While maintenance and life-extension are at the core, our capabilities extend far beyond conventional repair solutions.

In India, this expertise is reflected in some of the most iconic infrastructure assets. At the Bandra–Worli Sea Link, our scope includes detailed inspection of the anchorage and stay cable systems, along with the installation of advanced structural health monitoring systems for the stay cables, enabling real-time performance assessment of this critical urban link.

Another significant engagement is the rehabilitation of the historic Bascule Bridge project, where our works encompass structural repair and rehabi-litation of corroded bridge elements, civil structure repair works, laying of submarine cables for the control panel, and the design and implementation of ICCP (Impressed Current Cathodic Protection) systems for long-term durability of the civil structure. These projects clearly demonstrate how FOREVA® combines engineering precision with durability-driven solutions. While we are well-known for our strength in repairs and rehabilita-tion, new-build projects also remain a major and equally important segment of our operations.

Which are the major new-build projects that Freyssinet India is currently involved in?
New-build infrastructure is a strong growth engine for Freyssinet India, where our advanced engineering solutions contribute to some of the country’s most ambitious and complex projects.

One of our flagship achievements is the Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway arch bridge, where Freyssinet was appointed as a subcontractor responsible for the design, supply and installation of 350 prestressed rock anchors, each with a capacity of 100 metric tonnes.

We were also a key contributor to the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), India’s longest sea bridge. Our scope included the supply of anchorage systems and the installation of both external unbonded and internal bonded post-tensioning systems.

The prestressing works involved approximately 5,990 MT of external post-tensioning and 2,548 MT of internal post-tensioning.

The Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) represents another landmark assignment, where our scope covered the design, supply and installation-including stressing-of stay cable clevis anchorage hangers, along with the installation of a gigantic girder weighing more than 30 Boeing jets. This critical operation enabled the seamless connection of the coastal road to the Bandra–Worli Sea Link, contributing to one of India’s most complex marine infrastructure corridors.

For the MAHSR (Bullet Train) Project, Freyssinet’s involvement spans post-tensioning and ground anchor works, including the design, supply and installation of temporary and retractable ground anchors and rock bolts for underground station construction. The total anchor length stands at 96,815 metres, with individual anchor lengths varying between 16 and 32 metres and capacities ranging from 187 kN to 1,138 kN. Additionally, at Package C1, the total length of rock bolts is 25,154 metres, while at Package C2, the scope includes 196 anchors and 100 rock bolts.

Web : www.freyssinetindia.co.in/