Launch of the S-PASS project on Parisian underground resources and uses

Coordinated by Isabelle Halfon (BRGM) and Jocelyn Barbarand (Université Paris-Saclay), the S-PASS project is one of 13 targeted projects of the Underground, Common Good Research Program. It brings together 11 partners and mobilizes a funding budget of approximately 3 million euros with a view to developing a 3D digital model of the Parisian underground combining geology, geotechnics and infrastructure, and sharing it with planning stakeholders and citizens to build future uses of this underground space. 

The project members (geologists, geotechnical engineers, 3D modeling researchers, etc.) met during the kick-off meeting on December 11, 2023 at the Société géologique de France in Paris, alongside representatives of the ANR, to discuss the initial research work to be carried out. 

Building potential uses of the Parisian underground with planners and citizens 

S-PASS focuses on the geographic perimeter of the Greater Paris metropolis, at a depth limited to 200 meters, and will draw on the numerous geological and geotechnical data acquired in major development and infrastructure projects in the Paris region. It aims to:

• Produce new knowledge on Cenozoic geological formations, their associated variabilities, their geomechanical properties, soil-structure interaction;
• Test new geophysical methods for ground characterization in urban areas;
• Develop a 3D digital model of the Parisian underground combining geology, geotechnics and infrastructure, which will be shared with planning stakeholders and citizens;
• Evaluate the geothermal potential of stations and tunnels in the Paris basin, shallow geothermal potential at the neighborhood scale, or the valorization of excavated soil for the creation of fertile aggregates for soils;
• Evaluate the impacts of underground developments in terms of sustainable development and societal impacts.