Construction of two maintenance pits for Mercedes SAGA's new VI workshop in La Roche sur Yon (85)

We supplied and installed two 20 m maintenance pits for our customer's new workshop in La Roche Sur Yon, in place of the old garage, which had become too dilapidated. Mercedes SAGA.

At the show Equipauto In 2017, we met the head of Mercedes SAGA's real estate department. Our fully equipped steel garage pitThis custom-built, high-finish, turnkey solution convinced our contact.

Following an initial meeting at their site in La Roche sur Yon, and in the presence of the workshop manager, we drew up the manufacturing plans for the two pits, in line with the customer's expectations and with the customer's specifications. INRS recommendations to provide future users with a fully functional and secure working tool.

The two pits are identical and located side by side in bays 2 and 3 of the new workshop. Both are equipped with large 2-metre recesses allowing mechanics to store their equipment and manage oil and grease supplies via hose reels.

For its drainage, the customer chose to use its angle iron (a 200mm UPE) to integrate a pneumatic recovery tank at the edge of the pit.

These vehicles are lifted using a pit bottom cylinder which can be stored at the back of a staircase with a retractable first step, so as not to obstruct the passage when the pit jack is not in use.

For this beautiful, fully tiled workshop, and to match the image of Mercedes and the rest of the garage's equipment, we created pit covers made exclusively of black lacquered aluminium slatsand we painted the pit edge UPE black for a very attractive result!

Each pit is equipped with 2 x 10 m aluminium covers with two independent engines. This means that mechanics can work on one half of the pit and secure the other half. We have also added a footbridge to enable the mechanic to cross the pit safely when both covers are open.

Chronology of the installation of the two prefabricated steel garage pits

Day 1: Delivery and unloading of pits

The two pits arrived in a special convoy on Monday morning at around 8.30am. We took some great photos of this spectacular entrance.

Day 2: Positioning the workshop pits and fixing the installation beams

The next morning we positioned the first pit very quickly as it was in line with the door. Positioning the second pit was a little more perilous as it was out of alignment with very little room to manoeuvre. We finally managed to get this second pit in early in the afternoon, giving us time to fix our installation beams in preparation for the arrival of the concrete on Wednesday morning.

Day 3: Pouring the concrete and sealing the two pits

We poured the bottom of both pits at the same time, starting at 8am. By starting early, we saved time, as we could then carry out the second phase of pouring, to build the walls, that very afternoon. The drying time between pouring the base and erecting the walls gives us time to make all the connections for the ducts for the ventilation at the bottom of the pit, the compressed air supply, the electricity and for the new and used oils.

Day 4: End of work

It's now Thursday, the two pits have been laid, the concrete is dry and the networks are waiting to be installed. We still have to remove the suspension beams, prepare for the return of our installation equipment and clean up the site before we leave. So we installed these two 20-metre pits in less than 4 days.

We would like to thank our contacts at Mercedes SAGA and the companies on site who helped us to carry out this installation in the best possible conditions. Thank you again for your confidence in us. Didier & Mathieu