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The Champlain Bridge () was a
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...
cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...
with approach
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
s constructed of prestressed concrete beams supporting a prestressed concrete deck paved with asphalt. Opened in 1962, the bridge crossed the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...
, connecting the
Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...
to its South Shore suburbs. Together with the
Jacques Cartier Bridge The Jacques Cartier Bridge () is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec, to the South Shore (Montreal), south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The bridge crosses Saint Helen's ...
, it was administered by the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI), a Canadian Crown Corporation which reports to
Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) () (formerly Infrastructure Canada or INFC)''Infrastructure Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Office of Infrastructure of Canada (). is a dep ...
. Since December 21, 1978, JCCBI was responsible for the management, maintenance and monitoring of the Champlain Bridge. The bridge saw about 50million crossings per year, of which 200,000 were buses. On an average weekday, 66% of users were commuters. It was one of the busiest bridges in Canada until its closure in 2019. Towards the end of its life, the Champlain Bridge was well known to be in an advanced state of decay. Long-discussed plans to construct a replacement bridge finally came to fruition when construction commenced in 2015. In 2019, upon the opening of the new bridge (formally known as the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge), the original Champlain Bridge was closed and promptly demolished, concluding 57 years of service.


Specifications

The Champlain Bridge project was undertaken in 1955 and construction proceeded between 1957 and 1962. The bridge carried six lanes of vehicle traffic; three in each direction. During rush hour one lane of those heading off the island in the morning, and onto the island in the evening, was used as a reserved
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...
for buses to be able to head in the opposite direction. The bridge was opened to traffic in stages as the approaches were completed between June 1962 and September 1964. It was subsequently connected to the Bonaventure Expressway, which was part of the north approach to the bridge. The expressway was opened to traffic on April 21, 1967. It was one of North America's busiest highways with almost 59million crossings annually. *Total length of crossing complex: *Total bridge length including approaches: **Length: abutment to abutment: **Link of viaduct to Section 1: **Center main cantilevered span: **Wellington Street approach: *Bonaventure Expressway: Just upstream from the bridge there is an ice boom, the Champlain Bridge Ice Control Structure.


Construction history

On August 17, 1955, Federal Transport Minister George Marler announced the planned construction of a new bridge connecting Montreal to the South Shore via Nun's Island. The city's existing bridges (
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Cartier, and Mercier) had become inadequate to support the amount of traffic that carried residents from the growing South Shore suburbs into Montreal. The project was initially called the Nuns' Island Bridge because it crosses Nuns' Island. In 1958, it was named the Champlain Bridge in honour of the explorer
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
. The
National Harbours Board The National Harbours Board was an agency of the Government of Canada, reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Transport (Canada), Minister of Transport. It was in operation from 1936 to 1983. History The idea of a system of national ports ...
was placed in charge of the project. Through several lengthy meetings and consultations in the fall of 1955, the location for the bridge and its approaches were selected. Originally, the plan had been to build the bridge with only 4 lanes, with room for further expansion to 6 lanes. During the design phase, however, it was decided to go with an initial 6-lane design. It was opened on June 28, 1962 at 4 p.m. with only one approach from Montreal, via Wellington Street. A section including approaches to and from
Atwater Street Atwater Avenue (officially in ) is a major north–south street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It links Doctor Penfield Avenue in the Ville-Marie, Montreal, Ville-Marie Boroughs of Montreal, borough to the north, and Henri Duhamel Street ...
and La Vérendrye Boulevard were opened two years later. In 1967, the final approach to the bridge on the Montréal side was completed when the
Bonaventure Expressway Autoroute 10 (A-10) is an Autoroute of Quebec in Canada that links greater Montreal to key population centres in Montérégie and Estrie, including Brossard, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Granby, Sherbrooke and Saint-Georges (possible). The A-10 ...
was opened to traffic. A $0.25 toll ($0.08 if paid with tokens) was charged to finance the $35million cost of the Champlain Bridge. The toll was collected until 1990, when the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI), which took over jurisdiction of the bridge a dozen years earlier, removed the toll plaza. In 1992, the concrete deck of the cantilever metal part was replaced by an orthotropic steel deck. Gutters to channel the corrosive runoff to the river appeared in 1994. The pressure exerted by the reinforced beams on the ends of the trimmers then required the reinforcement of the latter by steel rods under tension. In November 2013, a crack was discovered in a critical part of the superstructure. One lane was closed immediately, and emergency repair plans were put in place. During preparation, the crack enlarged and a second lane was closed. On November 29, 2013, a temporary external beam of 75 tons, named "super-beam" by the media, was urgently installed to reinforce the structure. In June 2014, JCCBI replaced the super-beam with a modular truss that was designed and manufactured in Quebec. As part of a 2014–2017 Edge girder reinforcement program, 94 modular trusses and six shoring systems were installed to stabilize the condition of the bridge girders.


Problems and replacement

Montreal's climate subjected the Champlain Bridge to wintry cold, snowfall, and windy conditions, as well as contrasting hot and humid summer conditions, all of which accelerated damage to the bridge. Because of the potential danger from ice accumulation during winter, the bridge was salted every season for decades. Salt attacks both the concrete and steel
rebar Rebar (short for reinforcement bar or reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or steel reinforcement, is a tension device added to concrete to form ''reinforced concrete'' and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid ...
used in girders, pylons, and other parts. The problems associated with the design and maintenance of the Champlain Bridge thus exceeded the useful life of several structural components. The design and construction of the structure prevented the isolation of outdated elements and their replacement with new ones, as could be done on other structures. Given the advanced deterioration of the bridge, it was constantly monitored by 300 sensors. Several reinforcement measures and rehabilitation programs were deployed over time by JCCBI. However, none of these were effective in the long term. In 2009, the Government of Canada announced in its 2009 Economic Action Plan that it would be allocating $212million to renew the bridge. In March 2011, the Government of Canada announced $158 million were to be spent on a major repair and maintenance program as concerns mounted that it was at risk of collapse. Montreal's ''
La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...
'' newspaper cited two leaked engineering reports prepared for a federal bridge agency that suggested sections of the structure were in a severe state of deterioration. The report concluded that a partial or complete collapse of the span could not be ruled out. Starting in 2009, JCCBI — the Federal agency that managed the structure — began conducting a major repair program to extend the useful life of the Champlain Bridge. In 2010, JCCBI retained international engineering firm Delcan to carry out an expert study of the bridge's structural health. The firm returned a report entitled "The Future of the Champlain Bridge Crossing". In the Executive Summary, the bridge was said to be "functionally deficient" for both current and long-term traffic demands, and showing "significant deterioration". One finding suggested that the Champlain Bridge was in "very much poorer condition than would be typical" for comparable bridges. Delcan concluded that the bridge had "many deficiencies" and, even in light of the methodical inspection and rehabilitation of the structure undertaken by its owners, that continued operation "entails some risks that cannot altogether be quantified". In September 2007, faced with rising costs for the maintenance of the Champlain Bridge, then Canadian
Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
Lawrence Cannon Lawrence Cannon, (born December 6, 1947) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight ...
confirmed that his department was seriously considering the construction of a replacement structure. In August 2008,
Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...
announced that it was exploring different scenarios for a new bridge. In October 2011, then Minister of Transport
Denis Lebel Denis Lebel (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Roberval, Quebec, and deputy leader of the Official Opposition. Lebel was born in Roberval, Quebec. Political career Lebel was elected to the House of Commons ...
officially announced that construction on the new bridge would begin within 10 years. In April 2015, the federal government selected the JV consortium: Signature on the St. Lawrence Group to build the new bridge. The consortium mainly included SNC-Lavalin, the
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ACS Infrastructure, and
Dragados ACS, Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. () is a Spanish company dedicated to civil engineering, construction, all types of services and telecommunications. It is one of the leading construction companies in the world, with projects ...
Canada. T.Y. Lin International served as the Lead Designer. Construction on the new bridge officially began on June 16, 2015. On December 19, 2018, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities
François-Philippe Champagne François-Philippe Champagne (; born June 25, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has been Minister of Finance (Canada), Minister of Finance since March 14, 2025. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Champagne was elected to the ...
announced that the official name of the new bridge would be the Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge. The bridge opened to northbound/westbound traffic on June 24, 2019 ( St-Jean-Baptiste Day), with the official opening ceremony being held on June 28, 2019, and southbound/eastbound traffic opening on 1 July 2019 (
Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...
). The multi-purpose runway was opened in November 2019 followed by the REM train tracks on July 31, 2023. As soon as the new bridge was opened to traffic, the old bridge was closed and demolition work began immediately.


See also

*
List of longest bridges in the world This is a list of the world's longest bridges that are more than in length sorted by their full length above land and water. The main span is the longest span without any ground support. ''Note: There is no standard way to measure the total ...
*
List of bridges The list of bridges contains various notable bridges around the world. The list is sorted by continent, and within continents, sorted alphabetically by country. Africa Algeria * Ouadi El Roukham Bridge Botswana *Kazungula Bridge (connects wit ...
* List of crossings of the Saint Lawrence River * List of bridges in Montreal * Federal Bridge Corporation Limited *
Réseau express métropolitain The Réseau express métropolitain (REM; ) is a Medium-capacity rail system, light metro rapid transit system in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As of June 2025, it consists of five stations spanning 16 km, connecting Downtown Montreal with th ...


References


External links


New Champlain Bridge
, project website
Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com: Champlain Bridge (A-10, A-15, and A-20)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Champlain Bridge, Montreal (1962-2019) 1962 establishments in Quebec 2019 disestablishments in Quebec Cantilever bridges in Canada Bridges completed in 1962 Bridges in Montreal Bridges over the Saint Lawrence River Buildings and structures in Brossard Former toll bridges in Canada Le Sud-Ouest Road bridges in Quebec Roads with a reversible lane Transport in Brossard Buildings and structures in Verdun, Quebec