It is precisely 9:15 a.m. when the buzzing gets louder, the vibrations more intense. Suddenly, under the curious eye of a few local residents, the beast seems to burst out of the clouds, its blades tearing the sky of the La Défense district, in Hauts-de-Seine. The Super Puma from the company SAF Hélicoptères prepares to helicopter heavy metal parts on the roof of the Opus tower A quarter of an hour later, mission accomplished, the powerful helicopter returns to the base without ever having landed.
A vast security perimeter had been defined on the Esplanade de la Défense. It was in this enclosure that the sections and elements were stored. These were secured to a sling, 80 m below the device then hoisted and placed on the roof of this 28-storey building built in the 1970s. “Frankly, it’s crazy”, appreciates Franck who takes advantage of the show to interrupt his jogging and immortalize the scene.
The Super Puma is a model of helicopter used by the army, particularly for transporting troops but also for civilian missions like here. The pilot of this company based in Albertville in Savoie made six rotations from this secure zone. The crane which was thus removed and assembled on the roof of the Opus tower must be used for the vast modernization project of this building.
“We are used to this type of operation,” comments Xavier Decroux, the boss of SAF Hélicoptères. Heliports in urban areas are our specialty. The Defense district with its towers and the wind makes the maneuver sensitive but it is the heart of our business. “Today this company is the largest helicopter company in Europe with 700 employees, 130 aircraft and, according to Xavier Decroux, “bases almost everywhere†.
“One or two operations of this type each year”
Until the beginning of the 2000s, this tower, PB12 for short, housed the premises of Crédit Lyonnais before undergoing a major renovation. The work in progress should give it a facelift with more volumes, a tower more open to the square, more restaurant areas, brighter floors, high-tech meeting rooms and others intended for yoga and fitness, etc. All respecting drastic environmental criteria.
But the icing on the cake is logically at the very top, on the 26th floor where a rooftop will be set up, the latest piece of equipment that is now impossible to do without. It will notably include a restaurant that can be privatized and 275 m2 of green terrace according to the Opus website.
Once the work carried out by the Legendre group is completed, the company BNP Paribas Asset Management, the branch of activity specializing in asset management of the BNP Paribas group, will move into this building.
“This tower dates from the 1970s. It is one of the oldest and is one of the first generation constructions,” explains Adrien Teurlais, founder of the defense92 site. The helicopter is often the only or best way to access roofs to drop off heavy equipment. There are one or two operations of this type each year. HAS”
