Champlain Bridge (Montreal, 1962–2019)
The Champlain Bridge (French: Pont Champlain) was a steel truss cantilever bridge with approach viaducts constructed of prestressed concrete beams supporting a prestressed concrete deck paved with asphalt. Opened in 1962, the bridge crossed the Saint Lawrence River, connecting the Island of Montreal to its South Shore suburbs.
Champlain Bridge | |
|---|---|
Champlain Bridge in October 2010 | |
| Coordinates | 45°28′07″N 73°31′03″W |
| Carried | Six lanes of Autoroute 10, 15, 20 |
| Crossed | St. Lawrence River and Saint Lawrence Seaway |
| Locale | Brossard and Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Owner | The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc. |
| Maintained by | The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc. |
| Website | jacquescartierchamplain |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel truss Cantilever bridge |
| Material | Steel, Concrete |
| Total length | 3,440 m (11,286 ft) 7,412 m (24,318 ft) (including approaches) |
| Longest span | 215.5 m (707.02 ft) |
| Clearance below | 36.6 m (120 ft) at mid-span |
| No. of lanes | 6 |
| History | |
| Designer | Philip Louis Pratley Henry Hugh Lewis Pratley |
| Engineering design by | Philippe Ewart Lalonde and Valois |
| Constructed by | Atlas Construction Company Limited McNamara (Quebec) Limited The Key Construction Inc. Deschamps & Bélanger Limitée Dominion Bridge Company |
| Construction start | 1957 |
| Construction cost | C$35 million C$52 million (including approaches and Bonaventure Expressway) |
| Opened | June 28, 1962 |
| Closed | June 28, 2019 |
| Demolished | c. 2024 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 159,000 |
| Toll | Collected until 1990 |
| Location | |
Together with the Jacques Cartier Bridge, it was administered by the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI), a Canadian Crown Corporation which reports to Infrastructure Canada. Since December 21, 1978, JCCBI was responsible for the management, maintenance and monitoring of the Champlain Bridge.
The bridge saw about 50 million 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 new Champlain Bridge finally came to fruition when construction commenced in 2015. Upon the opening of the new span in 2019, the original Champlain Bridge was closed and promptly demolished, concluding a long and useful life of 57 years.