News

Just six months after beginning work on the new Champlain Bridge Corridor Project, Signature on the Saint-Laurent is pleased to present Montrealers with a holiday gift: the first concrete footing has been poured for the western approach to the new Champlain Bridge and the 42 piles have been drilled for the main pylon of the cable-stayed portion of the structure.

42 piles for the main pylon

This week, the team working on the cable-stayed portion of the bridge finished the drilling and concreting for the last two drilled caissons (out of a total of 42). This process was completed in the middle of the river on the jetty adjoining the Seaway dike. These piles will become the base for the main pylon of the new Champlain Bridge, along with 24 concrete caissons for the first two western approaches. Anchored in the rock at an average depth of 20 metres and measuring 1.2 metres in diameter, each pile is made out of concrete poured around a steel reinforcing cage.

In early 2016, work will continue with the construction of the main pylon foundation. The pylon will stand nearly 160 metres high—taller than the mast of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

Also, today the first concrete footing has been poured for the western approach to the new Champlain Bridge. 250 cubic metres of concrete (weighing a total of 605 tonnes) from Lafarge’s facilities were poured over a six-hour period for the first footing. Its dimensions are impressive: 11 metres wide, 11 metres long and 2 metres high. You can find more details in our article about it.

Looking ahead to 2016

Plenty of new challenges lie in store for the Signature on the Saint-Laurent team in 2016. Next year will also be marked by a number of exciting milestones as Montrealers watch the first permanent structures of the new Champlain Bridge emerge from land and sea.

A short video was produced on this construction activity (in French).