Method for manufacturing a wall of a sealed and thermally insulating tank having inter-panel insulating inserts

A method for manufacturing a tank wall, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a sealed and thermally insulating tank wall thermally insulating barrier, said thermally insulating barrier comprising a plurality of insulating panels juxtaposed in a regular pattern, the mutually facing lateral faces of two adjacent insulating panels delimiting an inter-panel space separating said two adjacent insulating panels,
• providing a parallelepipedal insulating insert comprising an insulating core, said insulating insert comprising a wrapper completely covering the insulating core,
• inserting a suction nozzle of a suction system into the insulating insert through an orifice in the wrapper,
• applying a vacuum pressure in the insulating insert so as to reduce the thickness of said insulating insert through vacuum pressure,
• inserting the insulating insert into the inter-panel space while maintaining the suction of the suction system in order to maintain the vacuum pressure during the step of inserting said insulating insert into the inter-panel space,
• when the insulating insert has been inserted into the inter-panel space, removing the suction nozzle from the insulating insert so that the interior space of the wrapper is in communication with ambient pressure via the orifice in the wrapper.