Quebec won't tear down overpasses flagged for problems: officials

Quebec has no plans to demolish 15 aging highway overpasses, although there are plans to reinforce them in the future, transport officials said.

The overpasses were questioned Friday after reports suggested Quebec's Transport Ministry was intent on tearing them down because their designs aresimilar to that of the Concorde structure that collapsed last September, killing five people.

Quebec is looking atthe 15 spans but has no intention of destroying them, deputy transport minister Jacques Gagnon said.

"All of these structures are perfectly safe for the moment. They have been inspected regularly since the collapse of the de la Concorde," he said.

The province plans to order construction work on the overpasses as needed, he said.

"Each of these 15 structures will be reinforced, within the next five years, for measures of precaution."

Four of the overpasses are in Montreal. The others are in the Laurentians, Montrgie, central Quebec and on the North Shore.

A provincial inquiry headed by former premier Pierre Marc Johnson is underway to determine why the Concorde overpass cracked and collapsed in the fall, killing five people, including a pregnant woman, and critically injuring six more.

The disaster raised concerns about Quebec's road and highway safety. Critics have questioned the province's protocol for dealing with aging highway infrastructure.

According to early testimony in the inquiry, pieces ofconcrete were falling from the Concorde overpass the morning it collapsed, and an inspector surveyed the site, but he determined there was no reason to shut the highway down. The overpass collapsed an hour later.

The inquiry continues until May 2007.