New Champlain Bridge will be finished on time, minister promises

A year after work began on the new Champlain Bridge, it's nearly time for its foundation to be installed.

Federal Minister of InfrastructureAmarjeetSohi,Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister MartinCoiteuxand Montreal Mayor DenisCoderrewere on hand Fridayas crewsprovided an update on construction of the new $4.25-billion span linking Montreal to the South Shore.

Since lastfall, a marine excavation bargeequipped with a power shovelhas been digging into the St. Lawrenceriverbed in order to prepare for the installation of the bridge's footings.

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In mid-December, crews started building the 38 footingsthat will be installed underwater. Each one comes with a base and when assembled, the footing and base tandem willstand14 metres high and weigh900 tonnes.

The footings will be moved to a loading dock by "Thor the ant," a machine specially made to transport the many massivepieces needed to build the bridge.

To actually install the pieces, the footings will be moved and tied downto a vesselcalled the floating foundation installer.

A GPS system directs thevessel to the right place, then the footing is lowered using a hydraulic cable, pulley system and hydraulic jacks.Workers will make sure it's positioned just rightbefore concrete is poured to solidify it.

To date, 16 of the footings have been premade and 20 locations have been excavated.

Scrapping toll idea leads to millions in savings

The bridge is scheduledto be completed Dec. 1, 2018. Itis expected to last 125 years and will take up to 45,000 tonnesof steel to complete, according to MarcDutil, the president ofCANAM,one of the groups working on the project.

The project is funded by a public-private partnership between Infrastructure Canada anda consortiumchosen by Ottawa.

Sohisaid Friday the project is on schedule and on budget. He also confirmed that the finished bridge will not have tolls.

When the previous Conservative government announced plans to build the new bridge, they said it would be partiallypaid for bytolls. The Liberals reversed that decision after taking power last year.

Aninternal federal government memo,obtained by The Canadian Press, estimated the decision to ditch plans to install the tolls will knock about $301 million off the final constructionprice.

The current bridge was built in 1962but has been deteriorating in recent years.

In 2011, when it was announced that the bridge would be replaced, an estimated 140,000 cars were using it each day.

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