Coast-to-Coast Cleanup Success!

We are excited to announce that our teams across the US took part in our annual waste pick-up challenge, Project Rescue Ocean 2024, contributing to a cleaner, greener environment. For the third consecutive year, our offices in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington participated in this environmental initiative and had the opportunity to come together to support our local communities. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, we have truly made a positive impact this year and even surpassed our previous achievements!

 

1) Pacific Office

In Bothell, WA, our dedicated crew worked together to collect over 50 pounds of trash. This marked a significant record for the team, as it was their highest collection in the past two years. To add to the excitement, some adorable furry companions joined in to lend a helping paw!

 

2) Atlantic Office

For the first time, our MD & VA offices joined forces with Freyssinet, Inc. – USA at Lake Fairfax. Together, they worked to gather over 12+ full bags of trash, leaving a positive impact on the environment and the community.

 

 

This event provided our teams with the chance to step away from their desks and engage in an enjoyable tradition that our employees eagerly anticipate each year.

Sixense remains committed to doing our part for the planet and promoting a sustainable work culture. Great job to all involved!

 

What is Project Rescue Ocean?

Project Rescue Ocean started as a simple Facebook page. As its founder, Benoit Schumann, shared his daily life, he noticed its growing importance. Due to this, he decided to transform the page into an association under the 1901 law and to take action on a larger scale by organizing eco-citizen actions on the beaches and inland. The goal is simple: to raise awareness among the general public, especially young people, about the state of the environment, seas, and oceans.

 

Sustainability at Sixense

In addition to Project Rescue Ocean 2024, Sixense is deeply committed to addressing the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges in all aspects of our operations. As part of our ambitious sustainability goals, we’ve identified key areas for improvement and are implementing targeted action plans.

To learn more about how we are leveraging these sustainable practices and are working to empower our clients to build and maintain infrastructure that is not only resilient but also environmentally responsible, click here.

 

 

Proud moment alert! Sixense Canada is stepping into the world of champions by sponsoring the incredible Loyola FireHawks for their very first Robotics Competition.

 

What are the Firehawks?

The St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School team is providing ambitious students with the opportunity to design and develop robots for multi-course competitions in Oakville, Ontario.

The goal of this organization is to create a positive learning environment for the next generation to help them build skills that ensure success. The rookie team also strives to create a diverse group of students with different backgrounds and skills for a unique learning experience.

 

Sixense Canada Sponsors Robotics Competition

 

As a company that is deeply committed to fostering innovation and striving for excellence in all our endeavors, Sixense is truly honored to have the opportunity to support and collaborate with such a dynamic and exceptionally talented group of young individuals.

Their unwavering dedication and enthusiasm for the fields of science, technology, and engineering resonate deeply with our organizational values and long-term vision. We firmly believe that these fields are not only crucial for addressing the challenges of today but also for shaping a brighter and more promising future for generations to come.

 

Congratulations, Firehawks!

Sixense is excited to share the news that the Firehawks robotics team achieved an impressive milestone by making it to the semi-finals in their debut competition. Not only did they advance to the semi-finals, but they also clinched the prestigious Industrial Design Award, showcasing their exceptional innovation and creativity.

We can’t wait to follow their exciting journey & see what else they accomplish while Sixense Canada sponsors them – let’s go Firehawks!

Are you interested in learning more about this organization or sponsoring future robotics competitions for the Loyola FireHawks? Visit their website here.

Good things come to those who innovate!

Here’s a look back at the Solentanche Freyssinet 2023 Innovation Awards & Sixense’s participation.

 

 

What are the Innovation Awards? 

They are conducted annually by Soletanche Freyssinet to honor the way our organization pushes boundaries and emphasizes new ideas. To be eligible, innovations had to have already been tested or include a fairly detailed business plan. This year 193 innovations were submitted, and divided into 5 categories:

 

1. Marketing & Business Development: Development of new services for our customers and new applications for our products. 
2. Engineering & Technologies: Innovative designs linked to technological solutions and validated on completed works. 
3. Management & Digital: Innovations in project or company management; innovations that contribute, through the use of new digital technologies to optimizie the performance of our businesses.
4. Site know-how: Practical and site-specific innovations developed by operational teams.
5. New ideas for the future: Ideas for development, new markets, and new techniques that will contribute to the future development of Soletanche Freyssinet. 

 

The prizes were determined by 5 geographical areas: 

• France 
• Europe (excluding France), the UK, the Middle East, and Africa 
• North America 
• Latin America 
• Asia and Oceania 

 

Details:

In each geographical area, the projects were submitted to a regional jury made up of members from different departments of the company. The final jury was made up of members of Soletanche Freyssinet’s COCOR. Six 2023 Innovation Award ceremonies took place, one in each geographical area, and a final ceremony at the end of December 2023 in Paris. 

  

 

 

Sixense’s participation in the SF 2023 Innovation Awards 

The Sixense teams submitted 19 projects in the various categories and regions. Of these 19 submissions, 5 projects won an award.  Please take a look at the winners below, including Sixense Northern America for their innovation while mapping and tracking tunnel Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (Canada).

  

🏆 Management & Digital category – France Special Prize:  Digital inspection with automatic disorder detection.

An innovation by FABRY Pierre-Marin, BESSOULE Nicolas, COATSALIOU Alexis, GARDON Elisabeth and BENKASSOU Ali. 

Innovation in a nutshell:  

Digital inspection consists of measuring the entire structure using a digital sensor, either remotely or at close range. This new working method “brings the work back to the office”, offering significant productivity gains both on-site (with intervention times reduced by 30% to 70%, depending on the structure) and in the office, notably using artificial intelligence via the Cameleon tool developed by Sixense. The Cameleon tool enables disorders to be identified directly from images. 

  

🏆 Engineering and Technology category – Americas Award:  3D defect mapping and tracking for tunnel Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine (Canada).

An innovation by KROELY Benoit.  

Innovation in a nutshell:  

As part of the project to completely rehabilitate the tunnel, Sixense has developed a new solution including a trolley specifically designed for 3D acquisition of the tunnel, with millimeter precision. Acquisition can be carried out several times throughout the project, enabling a before-and-after chronology to be created. The solution also includes 3D rendering software called beMap. It projects the 3D model and enables end-users to measure and mark the section to be repaired directly on the images. The solution also includes access to Beyond Asset, our digital tool for tracking repairs and associated tasks. Communication between these 3 tools has been automated as far as possible. This innovation is the result of collaboration between three Sixense entities: Sixense Canada for the project, Sixense Digital for Beyond Asset and Sixense Mapping for the 3D part. 

  

 

 

🏆 Site know-how category – Asia-Oceania Special Prize: 4DVib, a solution for remote dynamic monitoring of structures.

An innovation by LAHALLE Felix, CHALESLE Yohan, NIHOTTE Ivan, KO Ing-Hui and TR Madhavan. 

Innovation in a nutshell:  

4DVib uses interferometric radar technology to remotely measure the displacements of structures at high frequencies, to measure the displacements of structures at high frequencies, measure vibrations and define natural frequencies. This solution saves time and eliminates the need to intervene on the structure, for greater safety and speed. 4DVib was implemented to monitor the Singapore Ferris wheel. Faster and requiring less intervention and downtime, the 4DVib solution did not necessitate any shutdowns. Freyssinet was able to replace the cables, which were inspected via 4DVib as soon as they were installed.  

  

  

🏆Site know-how category – Europe Award: Cyclops mobile deployed in Monaco.  

An innovation by LICHTENBERGER Andre, GEHU Guillaume, GIANNO Remi, BASTH Amaury and PRUSAK Arnaud.  

Innovation in a nutshell:  

This solution measures absolute displacements by topography in a pit or shaft. Basically, the Cyclops is automatically moved up and down in increments, so that the technician no longer must intervene at the bottom of the pit on a daily basis. The solution is designed to enable 24-hour monitoring of the entire worksite, by automating measurements to increase productivity, autonomy and customer satisfaction. Limiting the presence of technicians at the bottom of the excavation helps to minimize coactivity between operators and machines, improving team safety and the quality of their working conditions. This solution for moving a Cyclops is covered by a French patent. 

  

🏆 Marketing & Business Development category – Asia-Oceania Award: Beyond Monitoring, a digital real-time monitoring platform.  

An innovation supported by BASTH Amaury, EL GAMMAL Marie-Laure, FEJOZ Remi, LECLUSE Nicolas and CAMHAJI Stephane. 

Innovation in a nutshell:  

Beyond Monitoring is a software platform, accessible online or via an application, enabling real-time management of customer site data. It is a decision-support solution for anticipating and controlling geotechnical, environmental and structural risks. It can integrate data of all types, from a variety of sources and formats, including those from third-party services. This digital platform takes over from Geoscope, our historic data integration and visualization software, developed and maintained for over 25 years. Beyond Monitoring is deployed on over 50 projects in Asia and Oceania, including Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop, a 90 km orbital rail loop through the Melbourne suburbs.  

  

  

Congratulations to all the award-winning innovation teams, and to the employees involved in the projects submitted.  👏

At Sixense, we are proud of our teams and their daily commitment to their missions and the development of innovative solutions. This commitment not only contributes to the continuous improvement of our solutions for customers, but also to the safety of our employees.  

 

Don’t forget: Earth Day is Monday, April 22. Originating in 1970, it is celebrated in more than 193 countries and is widely considered the world’s largest environmental movement. Serving as a powerful reminder of the responsibility each and every one of us has to protect the planet, Sixense remains deeply committed to increasing our sustainability across all our business principles and reducing our environmental impact.

This includes learning about ways to eliminate waste and discovering optimal methods for recycling, which is exactly how Sixense celebrated Earth Day 2024.

 

Sixense Recycling Facility Visit

Big kudos to Recology for giving our Washington team an incredibly educational tour of their recycling facility. The knowledge we acquired during our recent experience is invaluable. We are thrilled at the opportunity to incorporate these insights into our daily business practices. With this newfound knowledge, we are hopeful that we can improve our operations and achieve greater sustainability in the future.

 

 

Earth Day & Sustainability Initiatives

In addition, Sixense plans to continue to strive to integrate lean construction principles to minimize waste in our planning. By continuously analyzing our construction processes, we hope we are able to identify areas where we can improve, reduce waste, and become more environmentally friendly.

No matter how you spin it, there’s no Planet B. Every action counts, so let’s continue working together towards a greener planet for generations to come.

To learn more about how Sixense supports environmental protection and our core values, click here: https://northernamerica.sixense-group.com/who-we-are.

 

What is Recology’s Mission?

The Recology mission represents a fundamental shift from traditional waste management to resource recovery. They seek to eliminate waste by developing and discovering sustainable resource recovery practices that can be implemented globally. Learn more about their vision by visiting their website: https://www.recology.com.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2024, Sixense took the opportunity to showcase the diverse and talented women who make up their workforce. The company’s objective was to gain insight from each of them on what it means to be a woman working at Sixense. In this initiatve, several female employees shared their unique perspectives on this topic, and their answers are both inspiring and enlightening.

 

 

Gender Equality at Sixense

In addition to highlighting the individual experiences of their female staff, Sixense also wanted to share some statistics that reflect their commitment to promoting gender equality and diversity in honor of International Women’s Day.

The company has been working diligently to ensure that all employees, regardless of gender, feel valued and respected in the workplace. As a result of their efforts, the gender diversity rate has increased by 5.9% between 2022 and 2023. The HR and management teams are deeply invested in this initiative and are actively working towards achieving even greater levels of equality and diversity within the organization.

Together, we are committed to propelling our organization forward, guided by the strength, resilience, and innovation of our female colleagues.

Happy International Women’s Day to all the phenomenal women at Sixense and beyond.

Interested in learning more about our core values? Click here to learn more.

 

What is International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. Learn more by visiting their website: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/. 

A clean ocean is a happy ocean! As part of this year’s VINCI Environment Day, our offices in California, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington took part in Project Rescue Ocean for the second year in a row.

First, our offices in Maryland and Virginia collected waste at Seneca Creek State Park on a tranquil September morning. As you can see from the pictures below, they even had some furry friends join them.

 

 

Our West Coast offices also made time to help preserve the planet by visiting community areas in Washington and California. When combining their efforts, they were able to accumulate a total of *90 lbs* of litter for Project Rescue Ocean. Now that’s the power of teamwork!

 

 

Project Rescue Ocean continues to be a wonderful opportunity for Sixense employees to bond, get some fresh air outside of the office, and help protect the coastal environment. It’s a privilege to be a part of an organization that encourages us to give back.

This exercise has become a fun and rewarding company tradition that employees look forward to each year. Here’s to another year of working together to make a difference!

Click to view Sixense’s efforts from 2022.

What is Project Rescue Ocean?

Project Rescue Ocean was originally a simple Facebook page. By sharing his daily life, Benoit Schumann, its founder, saw it take on growing importance every day. By force of circumstances, he decided to transform this page into that of an association under the 1901 law and to act on a larger scale.

How? By organizing eco-citizen actions on the beaches but also inland. Its goal is simple, to raise awareness among the general public and in particular young people about the state of the environment, seas, and oceans.

To learn more about the organization and its efforts, click here: https://projectrescueocean.org/.

 

 

Sixense teams collected more than 880 lbs of waste during the Project Rescue Ocean challenge

 

At Sixense, environmental commitment is developed on a daily basis and translated into concrete actions. In 2022, our teams took part in a waste collection challenge, organized by our holding company Soletanche Freyssinet and the Project Rescue Ocean association.

We would like to warmly thank all our employees from France, North America, and the Middle East who took part in this challenge.

This challenge was organized for all Soletanche Freyssinet entities throughout 2022. Thank you to the QSE teams for rolling out this initiative.

 

 

Focus on the Project Ocean Rescue Association

The voluntary association organizes eco-citizen actions on the beaches and inland. Its goal is simple: to raise public awareness of the state of the environment, seas, and oceans. Project Rescue Ocean is officially labeled by UNESCO World Heritage.

To learn more, visit their website https://projectrescueocean.org/

Happy New Year from Sixense – 2023!

As the year comes to a close, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to our valued customers and partners. Your unwavering support and loyalty throughout the year has been truly appreciated. We are humbled by the trust you have placed in us, and we remain committed to providing you with exceptional service and support in the years to come. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with you and look forward to continuing our partnership for many years to come. Thank you for being a part of our journey.

We invite you to close the chapter of 2022 by sharing a quick review in pictures of this year, which was rich in projects for the Sixense Group Underground construction projects, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), consultancy for wind farms, asset management, and many others.

All around the world, from France to the United States via Hong Kong, follow the highlights of the year 2022 at Sixense by watching the video below.

To follow Sixense Northern America’s projects and news throughout the year, we invite you to follow our LinkedIn page.

 

 

At Sixense, we believe that collaboration is the key to success. It is very important to our organization that we participate and stay involved in what will become the future of engineering and the industry. Therefore, Sixense Northern America donated and made connections with several universities across the United States, including Oregon State University (OSU).

A recent donation of geotechnical instrumentation equipment by the Sixense USA team has been gratefully acknowledged by the OSU Civil Engineering Excellence Fund. Sixense is happy to contribute to their development and help young engineers reach their highest potential. Members of the Sixense USA team have also been deeply involved in supporting universities through guest lecturing seminars and collaborative research.

Our involvement in the success story of young and aspiring engineers is a source of pride for us. We are committed to supporting the academic community and providing opportunities for these future engineers to grow and excel. Sixense Northern America remains eager to contribute to their development and help them achieve their goals.

 

Photo Credit : Oregon State University

Sixense takes part in writing international monitoring standards

A group of about ten European experts has been working since 2010 on writing international monitoring standards.

Sixense is involved in the project via Martin Beth, director of our Monitoring Division France, by representing France among monitoring specialists from all over Europe, in charge of elaborating European and worldwide standards (CEN and ISO).

Their aim is to help sharing best practices in monitoring, by coordinating and writing them collectively.

 

Our expert explains :

Each standard takes between 2 and 3 years work in average and we will prepare about ten of them in the following years. The basic standard on general rules was published in 2015, followed by the standards on extensometers, inclinometers, piezometers and pore pressure cells. Our group is currently working on standards for liquid level settlement sensors, strain gauges and load cells and will start working shortly on geodetic monitoring instruments (automatic theodolites for example).

Martin Beth, director of Monitoring Division France, Sixense

 

Helimap is specialised in precision helicopter-borne LiDAR mapping, with a solid international reputation. The Swiss company, based near Lausanne, established itself on the market thanks to its innovative LiDAR system, adapted to complex terrains and tailor-made applications.  

With the acquisition of Helimap, Sixense Group is strengthening its position in 3D capture and modelling technologies for existing assets, a strategic entry point into the digitisation of construction and infrastructure operations. As a result, Sixense is now a leading global player in 3D digitising technologies. 

For more information about Helimap’s activity click on the below logo:

We are delighted to announce that a consortium led by Sixense and Imperial College London (with support from experts at Royal Holloway, Crossrail and Thames Tideway) has been selected to produce a CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association) guidance report on the application of ‘Earth Observation and InSAR technology in civil infrastructure’. This report will draw on the extensive experience of the consortium members and will detail current practices, illustrated with case study examples, and outline respective advantages and limitations of the various techniques to assist all users and, in particular, those involved in asset management and construction. A separate online database of case studies will also be developed in parallel by CIRIA to support the guidance document. We understand that this document will form an important review, of current practices and ongoing developments, to inform newcomers to Earth Observation as well as those already using such technologies.

Civil engineering and infrastructure (construction, maintenance and monitoring) are activities which demand high spatiotemporal accuracy, precision and detail of observations and measurements. Satellite borne remote sensing techniques are now able to produce data and information of a quality which satisfies such requirements. Yet there are few standards and regulations for best practice in the production and use of Earth Observation products. CIRIA has therefore recognised a need to inform stakeholders, to realise the full potential of Earth Observation techniques in both research and commercial operations; hence this guidance report will form a much needed and important step towards establishing the employment of Earth Observation techniques as a matter of ongoing best practice for asset management in all infrastructure projects.

 

The guidance document will be published in 2021. For more information, please contact satellite@sixense-group.com 

 

Check out our 2019 annual activity report in PDF here.

You can also discover the global Soletanche Freyssinet’s 2019 annual report here.