Laval overpass reconstruction starts Thursday

Work on the reconstruction of the De La Concorde and De Blois overpasses will begin Thursdayevening.

The work is expected tocost $7.5 million and should be completed by the end of June 2007.

Two lanes of Highway 19 will remain open in each direction during the construction period.

The De La Concorde overpass in Laval north of Montreal collapsedSept. 30, killing five people, including a pregnant woman.

Transport officials later demolished the De Bloisstructure, which is just metres away from the De La Concorde overpass, because of fears it would collapse, as well.

The construction will overlap with a public inquiry into the cause of the collapse. That investigation will include two engineers and be headed by former Quebec premier Pierre Marc Johnson.