New Champlain Bridge will be built by 2018, Lebel says

Montrealers will get a new Champlain Bridge in 2018, three years earlier than previously indicated, federal Infrastructure Minister DenisLebelannounced today.

However, Lebel also said that the federal government would not go ahead with an architectural design competition.

Instead, the design of the bridge has beenawarded to Danish architectPoul Ove Jensen,who will be working with engineers at Arup Canada, Inc. on the new Champlain.

At the news conference Sunday, Lebelthanked people living in Montreal and on the South Shore, which the Champlain Bridge connects, for their patience.

He said building the new Champlain Bridge was a major priority of the federal government, and promised that the new structure would be built to last at least 100 years.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said he welcomed the news, and said that he hopes the new Champlain Bridge will still be a signature piece of architecture for the city.

Lebel saidthe existing Champlain Bridge would continue to be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the meantime.

Superbeam a temporary fix

Traffic was slow-going on the Champlain Bridge on Sunday as workers put the finishing touches on the spans brand new "superbeam."

• Champlain Bridge reopens after 9-hour delay

The 75-tonne steel reinforcement beam was attached to Canadas busiest bridge after lengthy delays on Saturday.

Other work such as post-tensioning, structure inspection and installation of concrete barriers was completed on Sunday.

Yesterday, the bridge was supposed to be closed from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. ET, but it reopened at around 6p.m. ET.

The "superbeam" is meant to help support a cracked girder in a section of the spans underside.

• INFOGRAPHIC: How the Champlain Bridge got its superbeam

The crack was discovered in mid-November and since then, trafficon the Champlain Bridge has been reduced.

Drivers commuting to and from the South Shore will have to use just one lane in either direction until midnight tonight.At thatpoint, three northbound lanes and two southbound lanes are supposed toopen.

By evening rush hour, the bus lane toward the South Shore should be back up and running, the bridge corporation said.