Toulon Darse Nord marina completes €1m pontoon upgrade. Maribay Toulon Plaisance has led a pontoon replacement project worth more than €1 million ($1.1 million USD) at Toulon Darse Nord marina in southern France to improve berthing conditions and safety for boaters and port professionals. The upgrade is part of a wider €80 million ($89 million) programme to modernise recreational boating facilities across the region. Construction began in June 2026, replacing two ageing concrete pontoons at the quay with floating aluminium structures, while removing around 500sqm of concrete decking and more than 1,000 tonnes of material. Maribay Toulon Plaisance, which took over management of the area's recreational ports approximately two years earlier, worked in partnership with ETMF, Artelia and Ingérop under a public-service concession granted by Métropole Toulon Provence Méditerranée. Metalu supplied the two pontoons for the upgrade, measuring 48 metres long and 2.5 metres and 3.5 metres wide respectively. Both feature polyethylene fenders, five-tonne cleats and composite decking from Silvadec, along with two access gangways, each with a clear width of two metres, and chains and concrete blocks for anchoring. Metalu also designed, manufactured and installed a separate 60-metre-long pontoon for regattas and large vessels at the marina, featuring 10-tonne bollards, composite decking and a gated access gangway. The new pontoons add to the marina's facilities, which accommodate more than 370 vessels and include a 3,000sqm maintenance area equipped with a 25-tonne boat lift, as well as dockside electricity and water supply. The renovation is also the first major project in a regional marina modernisation programme expected to run through 2030. Further plans for the initiative propose installing a wave barrier and renovating the marina's boat maintenance area, while other sites are being considered for quay renovations at Toulon Vieille Darse, upgrades at Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer and Port du Lazaret and the development of a new port at Joseph-Grimaud in La Seyne-sur-Mer. Images courtesy of Toulon Provence Méditerranée.

Best practice for Tirana's future BRT lines. As part of a consortium with partners INGEROP and ICE, TTK is supporting the municipality of Tirana in the implementation of its first three Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines, which are scheduled to be operated using electric vehicles. Launched at the start of 2026, this project management contract involves the consortium in a wide range of technical and operational aspects. In particular, TTK is leading the 'training' component, which aims to share best practice and lessons learnt from similar projects with the teams in Tirana. As part of this, during the week of 21 September 2026, Marc Perez co-organised a series of site visits and technical meetings in Germany with INGEROP: - In Karlsruhe, the teams from Tirana were able to visit the Centralised Control Centre (CCC) as well as the depots, infrastructure and charging facilities for electric buses. The network currently operates 48 electric buses, which are recharged at the depot. - In Berlin, the visit focused on facilities enabling the operation of 280 electric buses, with a mixed charging system at the depot and at certain terminals. These site visits were complemented by discussions with several stakeholders and suppliers specialising in transport systems and charging infrastructure for electric buses. The consortium teams and the technical departments of Tirana City Council met with Schunk Transit Systems, a specialist in pantograph systems for electric buses, as well as INIT, EBBLO, GMV, SICE and Siemens, notably during the InnoTrans trade fair in Berlin. Beyond the technical insights, this week provided an opportunity for numerous rich and practical exchanges between the teams. The diversity of the solutions observed and the feedback shared will inform the planning for the Tirana project and guide future decisions. And because sharing experiences also involves socialising, these days were punctuated by informal gatherings that fostered exchanges and helped build relationships between the different teams. This week thus marks another important milestone in the support provided to Tirana City Council. By combining the lessons learnt from these visits with the many other activities carried out by the consortium, TTK is helping to ensure the smooth preparation for the commissioning of Tirana's three 'E-BRT' lines, scheduled for 2031.