The Honoré Mercier Bridge (French Pont Honoré-Mercier) in Quebec, Canada, connects the Montreal borough of LaSalle on the Island of Montreal with the Mohawk reserve of Kahnawake and the suburb of Châteauguay on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. It is the most direct southerly route from the island of Montreal toward the US border. It carries Route 138, originally Route 4. It is in length and contains four steel trusses on its first section. The height of the bridge varies from to with the highest sections located over the St. Lawrence Seaway. The bridge is named after former premier of Quebec Honoré Mercier.

Unique in Quebec, the bridge is managed by both the federal and provincial governments. The southwest portion of the bridge, over 1,031 metres (1128 yards) from the beginning of the arch bridge (at pier 14), is the responsibility of a Crown corporation: the Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Incorporated (JCCBI). The rest of the bridge (902 metres, 986 yards) is owned by the Quebec Ministry of Transport, which is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the complex, including the federal part.

The bridge has two lanes for traffic in each direction and a total span of nearly . At its highest point, the bridge rises above the river. There is a narrow sidewalk on the side headed to Châteauguay that was for use by pedestrians or bicycle, but it has not been open since major repairs began in 2009. The roadway has been characterized by numerous repairs.

It is estimated that an average of 75,000 vehicles use the bridge each day, and an estimated 30 million vehicles every year.

Rehabilitation Project

2009 saw the start of a complete rehabilitation of the bridge, the largest ever undertaken in Canada. For the first time since 1934, the deck of the Mercier Bridge was partially replaced. The work is expected to prolong the bridge's life for another 75 years. The bridge deck was replaced using prefabricated concrete deck panels. The new deck consists of more than 1,300 prefabricated concrete panels assembled with steel tension cables. In total, the new deck is an area of 40,684 m2 (10 acres). Numerous lane closures and redirection of traffic continued until work was completed. The project has been carried out in two parts: Phase A, replacement of the deck in the Ramps Section and Phase B, replacement of the deck in the B1, Seaway, and Mixed Sections.

Phase A was handled by Kahnawake's Mohawk Bridge Consortium.

Phase B was originally to be done by Pomerleau-de Mathieu Bard, but problems led to the removal of the contractor. The works were then completed by the Mohawk Bridge Consortium. The eight-year work on the federal part, led by contractor, Mohawk Bridge Consortium, was completed by the end of August 2016. A total of 982 new concrete panels were installed at a cost of $200 million.

Emergency closure

The Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) initially planned to renovate the section of the bridge under its jurisdiction at the same time and in the same manner as the federal section. On June 14, 2011, due to the extreme deterioration of 10 gusset plates, the 1930s section of the Mercier bridge was closed until September 6 (in time for school restart).

Engineers examined each gusset and designed an individual solution of either replacement or reinforcement aimed as a permanent solution, not a patch.

Regular inspections found the gussets to be corroded beyond what was expected. Using all known weaknesses of the bridge structure, the engineers undertook a complete recalculation of the load bearing ability of the structure. Once they calculated that and factored in a margin for safety, they decided to close the bridge at 8:04 PM on June 14, 2011. The reinforcement of existing structures was staggered until 2013. In 2014, an in-depth study was commissioned to a consortium of BPR, Genivar and SNC-Lavalin firms to determine the optimal solution for the future of the section. Provincial Bridge: Major Rehabilitation or Reconstruction.

In April 2017, the Quebec government announced the construction of a new section towards the South Shore of Montreal. The date of the beginning of the work is not determined.

See also

  • List of crossings of the Saint Lawrence River
  • List of bridges in Canada
  • List of bridges in Montreal

References

  • Official page
  • 360º video on YouTube