New Champlain Bridge construction: A project milestone for Canada (video)

Montreal's Champlain Bridge is one of North America's busiest spans, with 50 million vehicles crossing it each year. Increased traffic on the bridge, along with damage caused by road salt and other factors have caused considerable wear and tear to the structure, leading the Government of Canada to the decision to construct a new Champlain Bridge, starting 2015.

Crossing Saint Lawrence River, Champlain Bridge serves as a vital link for freight transportation between Canada and the U.S.A., as well as for the everyday transportation of people around Montreal. The construction of the new 3.4 km bridge is part of a long – term project; one of the largest in the past 40 years in Quebec. Except for the Champlain Bridge, the project also includes construction of a smaller 470 m bridge for L'Île-des-Sœurs and several related roadworks in the area.

The new bridge will have a lifetime of 125 years and its construction is in line with modern engineering and sustainable practices. Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018, the project has a very challenging 42-month timeline, mainly because it coincides with other major roadwork, including work on the current Champlain Bridge, the Turcot Interchange and the Bonaventure Expressway.

Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group was chosen by the Government of Canada to carry out the design, construction, financing, operations, maintenance and rehabilitation of the New Champlain Bridge Corridor Project. To meet the challenging timeline, the Group decided the prefabrication of most concrete and steel parts of the bridge, with their assembly taking place partly on site and partly off-site. For this purpose, a total of five jetties (three for the new Champlain Bridge and two for the 470 m Île-des-Sœurs bridge) were created during the preparatory phase of work, from June to November 2015. The Group will also allow for dry construction of various parts of the bridge, to serve as docks for mooring the vessels to be used on Saint Lawrence River.

The project's official website includes continuous updates on the construction process, many of them followed with interesting videos, such as the one regarding Building and Installation of a footing on the West Approach of the new bridge. The video presents the process from the prefabrication stage to the footing installation in the river. You may find it under "Media" below.

For more information and/or videos about the new Champlain Bridge construction, you may visit the project's website.