Skip to main content

Montreal’s Champlain Bridge opens but late and over-budget

Montreal’s US$3.5-billion, 3.4km-long Samuel de Champlain Bridge has opened after four years of construction and months of delays, according to Canadian media reports. Work is continuing on the cycle and pedestrian paths and eventually a light-rail train will run down the middle of the six lane bridge over the St. Lawrence River. The new structure has a life-span of 125 years and runs alongside its namesake Champlain Bridge, a steel truss cantilever that opened in 1962 which will be demolished. Accord
June 27, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Montreal’s Champlain Bridge opens but late and over-budget
Montreal’s US$3.5-billion, 3.4km-long Samuel de Champlain Bridge has opened after four years of construction and months of delays, according to Canadian media reports.


Work is continuing on the cycle and pedestrian paths and eventually a light-rail train will run down the middle of the six lane bridge over the St. Lawrence River.

The new structure has a life-span of 125 years and runs alongside its namesake Champlain Bridge, a steel truss cantilever that opened in 1962 which will be demolished. According to media reports, the old bridge was the busiest in Canada, carrying over 50 million vehicles a year and an estimated $15 billion worth of trade.

Signature on the St Lawrence (SSL) - led by Canada-based SNC-Lavalin Group - is the private consortium that built the six-lane public-private project under a 30-year contract.

The new and old bridges are named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain who founded Quebec City, the Quebec province’s capital, in 1608. Work includes construction of a smaller bridge for Île des Soeurs - Nun’s Island - and widening Autoroute 15 through the centre of Montreal.

World Highways %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external reported false https://www.worldhighways.com/categories/road-highway-structures/features/montreals-new-champlain-bridge-is-shaping-up-for-christmas/ false false%> on the progress of the bridge last year.

Related Content

  • bauma presents a new traffic concept
    January 6, 2017
    Anybody who knows bauma, will also know how busy it can get on the way to and from the show, both on the roads and on public transportation. So, to make travel as easy as possible for the exhibitors and visitors to this, the world´s biggest trade show, Messe München has developed a new traffic concept, featuring remote parking areas. From the airport to bauma The airport shuttle is a non-stop bus service taking participants straight from the international airport at Munich (stopping at Terminal 1 and Termin
  • bauma presents a new traffic concept
    March 12, 2013
    Anybody who knows bauma, will also know how busy it can get on the way to and from the show, both on the roads and on public transportation. So, to make travel as easy as possible for the exhibitors and visitors to this, the world´s biggest trade show, Messe München has developed a new traffic concept, featuring remote parking areas. From the airport to bauma The airport shuttle is a non-stop bus service taking participants straight from the international airport at Munich (stopping at Terminal 1 and Termin
  • World of Asphalt 2019
    December 12, 2018
    Tomorrow is your last chance to save 35% when you register for World of Asphalt 2019! Register now to attend the asphalt industry’s largest trade show and educational conference on February 12-14, 2019. Find solutions from 450 Exhibitors who will display their newest products and innovations. There’s no better place to train your team than World of Asphalt. With over 120 sessions to choose from, your whole team will leave with the right tools to grow.
  • Sunderland’s sliding bridge slips across the Wear
    October 26, 2016
    Slowly but surely, a 2,500 tonne section of a new bridge deck was eased out from the banks of the River Wear near Sunderland in northern England. It now straddles the water, pointing towards the opposite bank which it will eventually reach after another sliding operation next year likely. The project to build the New Wear Crossing is now half way through with the first half of the steel deck bridge poised mid-river. Completion of the bridge is expected in the spring of 2018. This month, hydraulic jack