Champlain Bridge set to open by end of year, says SNC-Lavalin

The replacement Champlain Bridge in Montreal will open on schedule at the end of the year, according to the SNC-Lavalin-led consortium heading the project. Cost of the entire corridor project is set at US$3.3 billion of which around $1.8 billion is for construction of the bridge, approach roads and highway adjustments. Failure to open the bridge to vehicular traffic on time means the consortium faces stiff fines, according to media reports: around $77,500 a day for the first seven days followed by $31
March 6, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Montreal’s Champlain Bridge: on schedule, so far, with 65% complete and opening set for December (photo courtesy Signature sur le Saint-Laurent Construction S.E.N.C.)
The replacement Champlain Bridge in Montreal will open on schedule at the end of the year, according to the SNC-Lavalin-led consortium heading the project.


Cost of the entire corridor project is set at US$3.3 billion of which around $1.8 billion is for construction of the bridge, approach roads and highway adjustments.

Failure to open the bridge to vehicular traffic on time means the consortium faces stiff fines, according to media reports: around $77,500 a day for the first seven days followed by $310,000 per day.

The federal Canadian government signed a public-private partnership deal with the SNC-Lavalin consortium Signature on the Saint-Laurent Group in mid-2015 for the group to design, build, finance and maintain the New Champlain Bridge Corridor project. SNC-Lavalin is a 50% partner in SSL which will operate and maintain the bridge until October 2049. Other SSL partners are 981 Hochtief, 2758 Flatiron, 4761 Dragados Canada and Grupo 917 ACS.

Meanwhile, SSL entered into a date-certain, fixed-priced contract with a construction joint venture of which SNC-Lavalin is again a 50% partner.

The new bridge, part of a six-lane 6km corridor including roads, is being built alongside the original bridge over the Saint Lawrence River and Seaway canal system. The new bridge, 3.4km long, will have the six vehicle lanes plus two lanes running in the middle of the bridge for electric public transit trains. The bridge runs from the île des Soeurs to Brossard, immediately downstream from the existing Champlain Bridge.
 
The new composite girder bridge across the river and Seaway consists of a 170m-high twin-tower cable stay bridge with a front span of around 240m and a back span of 120m.

Construction of the existing steel truss cantilever bridge, as well as accompanying approaches and the Bonaventure Expressway, started in 1957 and finished in 1962. Of the old 14.5km-long complex, the bridge is 7.4km. Every year, around 50 million vehicles cross the old bridge, Canada’s most heavily travelled bridge and a major route for traffic to and from the US.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Importance of road/tunnel drainage systems
    May 8, 2012
    A variety of systems are available for quickly and efficiently removing water from roads as Patrick Smith reports. The presence of water in a highway layer reduces the bearing capacity of the road, and in doing so it also reduces the structure's lifetime. Indeed, the recent extremely cold winter in many parts of Europe has shown that in colder climates there is a risk of frost damage when water is present resulting in costly potholes, so drainage systems performing properly are important in road design.
    Read More
  • First section of new Texas route opening
    November 21, 2017
    The first stretch of a highway development project in Texas is now open. New southbound toll lanes have been built for the Texas 288 project, running between downtown Houston and the Brazoria County line. The existing southbound traffic is being shifted to these lanes on a temporary basis between Holly Hall and Loop 610. But drivers are not being tolled at present. The US$815 million work is due for completion in 2019, when the tolling system will come into full use. The project involves widening the route
    Read More
  • Demolition of Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct has started
    February 28, 2019
    Demolition has started on downtown Seattle’s old Alaskan Way Viaduct as part of a major waterfront redevelopment project that included the State Route 99 tunnel. According to Seattle media, Washington state is aiming to collect US$200 million in tolls from the 3.2km tunnel – which is now open - as part of the $3.3 billion replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. However, tolling on the double-deck tunnel which has two lanes in each direction, plus an eight-foot safety shoulder, will not start until this s
    Read More
  • Croatia-Bosnia connection
    October 2, 2018
    The Svilaj Bridge connecting Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is nearly 40% complete, according to the contractors and the Croatian Motorways Directorate. Locally, the Svilaj Bridge – financially a 50-50 project between the two countries - is part of a motorway running from Beli Manastir to Osijek and on tyo Svilaj. But the route is also part of the motorway Budapest-Osijek-Sarajevo-Plocˇ which is the Pan European Corridor Vc (Corridor 5, branch c) connecting Budapest with the Adriatic.
    Read More

Highlighted Content