Bernard company installed faulty steel rods: bridge inquiry

A company owned by Raymond Bernard was in charge of settingweight-bearing steel rods during construction of a Lavaloverpass that collapsed last fall, a witness at the inquiry into the collapse said on Tuesday.

Rgis St-Laurent told the Johnson Commission he'd been hired to install the steel rods in the Concorde Boulevard structure, and was working for Bernard's construction company owner when he installed the weight-bearing beams three decades ago.

St-Laurent's testimony contradicts Bernard's earlier statements that he'd had nothing to do with the overpass construction.

Now it's up to the commission head Pierre Marc Johnson to determine the most logical course of events, said the inquirys lead prosecutor.

"In the end, you dont have to be absolutely sure beyond all reasonable doubt. You deal with it on probable grounds," Michel Dcary said on Tuesday, adding he's confident there is enough evidence the Bernard company was in charge of installing the steel rods.

Other witnesses have already told the inquiry the steel rods in question were poorly made, improperly installed and did not match the original blueprint for the overpass.

But until Tuesday the inquiry had been unable to determine who installed the steel structure.

Parts of the Highway 19 overpass in Laval collapsed last fall, killing five people and injuring six others.

The commission, headed by former Quebec premier Pierre Marc Johnson, will pause until July 3, when the final phase of public hearings will get underway, with expert testimony expected to last two weeks.

Johnson said he's not sure he can produce the inquiry's report by the Oct. 15 deadline imposed by the Quebec government.

The former Parti Qubcois premier said the sheer volume of testimony and information will likely take longer to process than the six weeks he'll have left after the hearings end.