Inspector found fallen chunks of concrete before Laval overpass collapse

A Transport Quebec inspector says he was called to look at the Concorde highway overpass in Laval moments before its deadly collapse and found chunks of concrete lying nearby.

Jules Bonin told the overpass inquiry Tuesday that he arrived at the scene on de la Concorde Boulevard about an hour before thecollapse last Sept. 30.

Bonin said the biggest piece of concrete that fell from the structure measured around 10by 6 inches, and he found about 20 more chunks of debris about the size of a golf ball.

He noticed an apparent fissure on the structure, but Bonin told the commission that nothing he saw forecast any danger of collapse, and he didn't feel the situation was urgent enough torequire closing the highway.

Bonin said he put the largest piece of concrete in his truck and filled out a report, adding that it wasn't his responsibility to conduct a full inspection and evaluate the structure, though he knew it had to be done quickly.

Bonin, who's not an engineer, said he was called to the scene after Transport Quebec received calls that concrete was falling from the overpass.

Another eyewitness told the commission he noticed the overpass surface was bumpy and uneven the morning before the collapse. Julien St-Pierre said the overpass felt jagged anddisplaced by a few inches when he drove over it minutes before it gave way.

Five people died, including a pregnant woman, when the de la Concorde overpass collapsed onto the highway below. Six other people were injured.

Former Quebec premier Pierre Marc Johnson is heading the inquiry, which is expected to last eight weeks.

The commission has already heard from several witnesses, including Dave Ferrara, who testified Tuesday he saw a metre-wide piece of concrete fall off the structure on the morning of Sept. 30 before he called 911.

When the commission showed him a photo of a piece of concrete recovered by Quebec provincial police that measured about half the size, Ferrara refused to say it was the same piece.

Another eyewitness told the commission Tuesday he saw a slight depression filled with water on the southeast side of the overpass structure the day before its collapse.