Skip to main content

Canada: work officially starts on Montreal’s Champlain Bridge

Canada’s infrastructure minister, Denis Label, officially broke ground for Montreal’s replacement Champlain Bridge, saying the project will likely cost US$3.42 billion. The 3.4km Champlain Bridge Corridor Project, including spans and highway expansions, is expected to be completed by 2019. SNC-Lavalin, the 50% stakeholder in the winning consortium Signature on the Saint-Lawrence, recently announced it had finalised the deal with new Champlain Bridge owner Infrastructure Canada. Signature on the Saint-
June 25, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
Canada’s infrastructure minister, Denis Label, officially broke ground for Montreal’s replacement Champlain Bridge, saying the project will likely cost US$3.42 billion.

The 3.4km Champlain Bridge Corridor Project, including spans and highway expansions, is expected to be completed by 2019.

SNC-Lavalin, the 50% stakeholder in the winning consortium Signature on the Saint-Lawrence, recently announced it had finalised the deal with new Champlain Bridge owner Infrastructure Canada. Signature on the Saint-Lawrence will design, construct, finance, operate, maintain and rehabilitate. SSL has entered into a date-certain, fixed-priced contract of around $2.15 billion and the concession period runs October 2049.

The partnership of SNC-Lavalin, 2758 Flatiron and 4761 Dragados Canada are responsible for construction of the project. Consortium equity providers include SNC-Lavalin Capital, 917 ACS Infrastructure Canada and 981 HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions North America. The project is designed by T.Y. Lin International, International Bridge Technologies, SNC-Lavalin and MMM.

The existing bridge – a steel cantilever truss structure built in 1957 – spans the St. Lawrence River which flows from the Great Lakes and is the route for ocean-going ships to reach cities including Chicago deep in the interior of northern North America.

The old bridge is also one of the busiest crossings in the country, carrying between 40-60 million cars, trucks and buses a year. As well, over 11 million transit users travel across it annually. In terms of Canada-US trade, more than $16 billion worth of goods and services use the corridor annually.

The new Champlain Bridge is expected to feature a three-corridor design, including two three-lane corridors for vehicles and a two-lane public transport corridor capable of accommodating a light rail transit system. It will also have a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists.

Canada-based Canam-Bridge recently announced it had won the contract to fabricate the superstructure for the new bridge, for which the company expects to use around at least 45,000tonnes of steel.

In a separate statement, ACS said it had secured financing for its work, according to Spanish media. Private finance for the project includes a long-term bond issue in two series subscribed to by HSBC Securities and National Bank Financial.

The short-term finance during the construction period will include bank debt of $1.16 billion, through a syndicate of National Bank of Canada, Bank of Tokyo-3055 Mitsubishi UFJ, Bank of Nova Scotia, Caisse Centrale Desjardins du Quebec, 2714 Sumitomo Mitsui, HSBC Bank Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of China.

There will also be capital contributed by shareholders of the consortium. The public finance portion of the funding will come through three payments associated with the achievement of targets in the project.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK’s Mersey Gateway Project team invites final tenders
    February 26, 2013
    The team behind what is set to be one of the UK’s largest infrastructure initiatives in the next few years has invited final tenders from the three shortlisted bidders competing to deliver it. The Mersey Gateway Project bidders have been asked to submit their tenders on behalf of Halton Borough Council by 10 April 2013, and an announcement about the identity of the preferred bidder is due in June 2013. This will allow the team behind the North West England-based project to sign a contract and begin construc
  • Canadian air
    February 8, 2012
    Compressors from Atlas Copco are proving highly useful in highly diverse applications, on a bridge project and a quarry in Canada. Water ingress over 30 years has damaged a road bridge in Quebec City, Canada, deteriorating the concrete and breaking down the rubber expansion joints at both ends of the 150m long structure. City highway authority, Transportes Quebec, awarded local contracting company Inter-Structures the contract to replace the deteriorated concrete and fit new membrane seals. The bridge, clos
  • Deutz secures new syndicated loan to bolster finances
    July 9, 2012
    German engine manufacturer Deutz has replaced its existing funding arrangements with a new syndicated loan. The working capital facility totalling €160million is being provided by a syndicate of German banks. The credit line is unsecured and runs until June 2017. In addition, Deutz has received a low-interest loan amounting to €90 million from the European Investment Bank. This loan, which is also unsecured, is repayable over a period of eight years with a grace period of two years. Deutz has hedged the in
  • Colombia’s ANI agency is driving forward the 4G PPP programme
    April 4, 2016
    Andrade Moreno is a man on a mission. The head of Colombia's infrastructure agency ANI explains how the organisation is giving foreign companies increasing confidence to invest time and money in the country. David Arminas reports Change, especially when it touches the highest levels of South American business and politics, can bring with it personal danger. Luis Fernando Andrade Moreno, president of Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency - ANI - was aware of this when he took on the role in 2011. B