The Samuel-De Champlain Bridge, colloquially known as the Champlain Bridge, is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

design by architect Poul Ove Jensen and built to replace the original Champlain Bridge over 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 ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, between Nuns' Island in the borough of

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and the suburban city of

Brossard Brossard ( , , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal, Greater Montreal area. According to the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with ...

on the South Shore. A second, connected bridge links Nuns' Island to the main

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 ...

. It is the busiest bridge in Canada. The new span is located just north of the location of the original Champlain Bridge, demolition of which began as soon as the new bridge was completed. The new bridge carries eight lanes of automobile traffic of the A-10, A-15, and A-20, with one lane in each direction dedicated for buses. It also includes a multi-use lane for cyclists and pedestrians. The central portion of the bridge deck carries the South Shore branch of the

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 ...

(REM) automated

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...

system. At wide, the new Bridge is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world that uses two planes of cables. It is one of the largest

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

projects ever built in

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and with an estimated 59 million vehicles a year, one of the busiest crossings on the continent. It is built to last 125 years with the usage of

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

and high-performance concrete, and replaces the previous 57-year-old bridge, which had become functionally obsolete, as well as its structure having been degraded by the repeated application of de-icing salt.

Specifications

The Champlain bridge is a crossing. It includes an asymmetric cable-stayed bridge with a main span, a concrete tower, and stay cables in a harp arrangement. The asymmetrical back span is . The west approach structure has 26 spans that are typically .The east approach is long and includes a span over Route 132. The bridge was built as part of a larger $4billion project that included: * The Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge * A new Autoroute 10 (A-10) approach * A new île-des-Sœurs bridge and a highway on île-des-Soeurs * Improvements to nearby parts of the A-15 The design of the Champlain Bridge addressed

seismic activity An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

soil liquefaction Soil liquefaction occurs when a cohesionless saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses Shear strength (soil), strength and stiffness in response to an applied Shear stress, stress such as shaking during an earthquake or other s ...

, light-rail transit loading, ship collision, and ice loading. The bridge is configured with three separate decks, one for each direction of vehicular traffic and a third in the centre for the

rail corridor. The northbound deck is wider to include a multi-use corridor for cyclists and pedestrians, requiring the cable-stay bridge to be asymmetric in the transverse direction as well as longitudinal. The main tower is shaped like a tuning fork and is supported by twenty-one drilled piles. The decks are supported in the approach spans by W-shaped piers.

Construction history

In September 2007, faced with rising costs for the maintenance of the Champlain Bridge (commissioned in 1962), then Canadian Minister of Transport

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 officially announced that construction on the new bridge would begin within 10 years. In November 2014, then Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt announced that she was abandoning the idea of naming the new bridge in honour of

Maurice Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard ( , ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL his ...

after consulting the family of the former ice hockey champion. Prior to the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election was held on October 19, 2015, to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 42nd Canadian Parliament, 42nd Parliament of Canada. In accordance with the Fixed election date ...

, the 28th Canadian Ministry planned on imposing a $2-$4 toll on the new bridge, however, this plan was abandoned following the election of the

29th Canadian Ministry The Twenty-Ninth Canadian Ministry was the Cabinet of Canada, Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that began governing Canada shortly before the opening of the 42nd Parliament of Canada, 42nd Parliament. ...

. In April 2015, the federal government selected the JV consortium: Signature on the St. Lawrence Group to build the new bridge. The consortium mainly includes: SNC-Lavalin, the Spanish ACS Infrastructure, and Dragados Canada. T.Y. Lin International is serving 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 will 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 July 1, 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.

Construction method

In order to meet the 42-month construction deadline, many steel and concrete bridge elements were prefabricated, with a portion of the work taking place on temporary piers. Three jetties were built: one on the east from Brossard, one on the west from Nuns' Island, and one from the centre, adjacent to a dike along the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

. *The pier through the canal, allowed, by means of

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...

s, the storage of piles of construction material. *The central jetty served as a construction platform for the piers and towers of the section of the bridge utilizing

guy-wire A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, down guy, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a freestanding structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and ten ...

s. Temporary pillars used during the construction of the

Millau Viaduct The Millau Viaduct (, ) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the Canyon, gorge valley of the Tarn (river), Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region, i ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

were erected to support the cable-stayed span during construction. The main cable-stayed span above the seaway was assembled in segments by means of a crane. *The 500 metre (yard) long west pier was divided into three pre-assembly areas: a first for the concrete foundation footings that serve as the base for the viaduct section crossing the river, a second for the steel headers that complete the piles, and a third for the steel superstructures that wear the aprons. During the prefabrication of the 38 marine insoles, a pile primer and working platform were added to form a pile base measuring up to high. A super-transporter moved these stack bases from the prefabrication area to a loading area from where they were lifted by an industrial catamaran. The catamaran then deposited these bases in spaces drilled to a depth of into the riverbed. Two floating cranes finally overlaid the bases of the prefabricated elements to form piles and headers. The steel box girders supporting the three decks of the bridge were then deposited on the trimmers as they were completed.

References

External links

New Champlain Bridge
, project website
Live Traffic – Champlain Bridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel-De Champlain Bridge Cable-stayed bridges in Canada Bridges completed in 2019 Bridges in Montreal Transport in Brossard Bridges over the Saint Lawrence River Buildings and structures in Brossard Buildings and structures in Verdun, Quebec Le Sud-Ouest Road bridges in Quebec

Specifications

Construction history

Construction method

See also

References

External links