The Pierre Laporte Bridge (french: Pont Pierre-Laporte) is the longest main span

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

.Although

Île d'Orléans Bridge The Île d'Orléans Bridge, known locally as the Pont de l'Île, is a suspension bridge that spans the Saint Lawrence River between the Beauport borough of Quebec City and Île d'Orléans (Orléans Island) in the Canadian province of Quebec. It ...

is over 4 km in total length, its longest suspended span is 323 m and its total suspended length is 677 m, less than Pierre Laporte's 1,041 meters full length. It crosses the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

approximately west (upstream) of the

Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge (french: pont de Québec) is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became a western area of Quebec City) and Lévis, Q ...

between

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

and Lévis,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. It is the longest non-tolled suspension bridge in the world at . It was originally named the New Quebec Bridge (''Nouveau pont de Québec'') and was supposed to be called Pont Frontenac (Frontenac Bridge) until it was renamed in honour of

Vice-

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Pierre Laporte Pierre Laporte (25 February 1921 – 17 October 1970) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician. He was deputy premier of the province of Quebec when he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ...

, who was kidnapped and murdered during the

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James C ...

of 1970 as construction of the bridge was nearing completion. The bridge was constructed for the Province of Quebec, Department of Roads in a joint venture with the private firm of '' Parsons Transportation Group''. It carries Autoroute 73, north from Autoroute 20, the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

, to Quebec City and Autoroute 40, and northwards towards Saguenay. Image:Quebec and Pierre-Laporte Bridges.jpg,

and Pierre-Laporte Bridges in winter. Image:pont_pierre-laporte_full.jpg, Pierre-Laporte Bridge (May 2015). Image:pont_pierre_laporte_under.jpg, View from under the north side of the bridge. __NOTOC__

Specifications

*Constructed: 1966-1970 *Main span: *Side spans: each *Total length: between anchorages *Deck: Six-lane

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

bridge *Capacity: 90,000 vehicles per day

References

External links

*
Pierre Laporte Bridge (A-73) on Steve Anderson's MontrealRoads.com

Google 3D warehouse
{{Authority control Laporte Bridges over the Saint Lawrence River Suspension bridges in Canada Transport in Lévis, Quebec Buildings and structures in Lévis, Quebec Road bridges in Quebec Bridges completed in 1970 1970 establishments in Quebec

Specifications

See also

References

External links