A steel structure will be installed in the coming months under the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge to further support it. Objective: limit “the risk of additional traffic lane closures” between now and the opening of the new bridge, scheduled for 2026.
This was indicated on Tuesday by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTMD). These “shoring works” will be carried out under the bridge, on the east side, in other words near the municipality of Senneville. Shoring is a practice consisting of “fitting a steel structure under a portion of the bridge to provide additional support,” said Quebec.
The operation, which is scheduled to last until winter 2025, “will provide increased security for the structure” and will limit “the risk of additional traffic lane closures” over the next two years. The steel structure will remain in place until the current bridge is deconstructed.
The latter is slated to be replaced by a new, larger infrastructure that is expected to be partially in service by 2026. In the meantime, however, all six lanes of the existing bridge are expected to be reopened, pending the new one. For now, only three of the six lanes are accessible, but the government says it is working hard to “add lanes to the existing bridge by late fall 2024.”
First, two piers, work areas built along the shore and on the water, will be built. It is these piers which will then allow workers to install piles, on which the steel structure capable of supporting the bridge beams will ultimately rest.
To limit the environmental impacts and the habitat of various species, Quebec will install, among other things, “curtains forming air bubbles and a turbidity curtain for the different species of fish in this sector”. The banks will also be continuously monitored “for the protection of the map turtle”.
Recently, more than 300 parking spaces were also temporarily added near the Vaudreuil bus terminal and train station. A 25% discount is also still in effect on the purchase of a 10-trip pass for public transit, in zones A, B and C.
