How New York is building its Champlain Bridge | Towards a future Champlain Bridge

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The boat moves quietly in the middle of the Hudson River. Usually, it is used to transport workers from the construction site to the shores, but that noon, it is more used to show a reporter and a cameraman up close the kind of construction that awaits Montrealers until 2018.

Like the Champlain Bridge, the old Tappan Zee Bridge was getting old, in addition to having become the site of huge traffic jams. New York State decided to replace it, and work began in 2013.

To date, everything seems to be going well. Part of the bridge, which is already very advanced, is to be completed in 2017. The other part, from which huge pillars are already visible, will be completed in 2018.

“We’re halfway through the work and we’re on track to finish the bridge at a slightly lower cost than expected,” says Kelly MacMillan, director for the New York State Economic Development Agency, who oversees the project.

Two bridges at 4 billion

The budget for the new Tappan Zee Bridge is roughly the same as that for the future Champlain Bridge: $ 4 billion. It will have two guyed sections and will be one kilometer longer than the Montreal bridge. It will also be wider, but built in two separate sections, one in each direction. The space in the middle is provided for a possible commuter train, absent from the project for the moment.

Unlike the Champlain Bridge, the cost does not include operating the structure for 30 years. It does, however, include the demolition of the current bridge.

Big project, short term

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Construction of the Tappan Zee bridge

Photo: ICI Radio-Canada / Jean-Sébastien Cloutier

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On the Hudson, the day is clear. In the distance, we can see the skyscrapers of Manhattan. Next to the boat, near the new structure, huge cranes are in action and several barges are stationary, serving as footholds and construction sites in the middle of the river. On one of these platforms, there is a small factory for making concrete.

To move faster, we build and assemble parts elsewhere, then transport them here by barge.

A quote from:David Capobianco, engineer for the NY State Thruway Authority

Similarities with the Champlain Bridge

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Construction of the new Tappan Zee bridge

Photo: ICI Radio-Canada / Jean-Sébastien Cloutier

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All these ways of doing things resemble those chosen by the builders of the future Montreal bridge. Parts will be built elsewhere and many more will be assembled on site. Moreover, in the shadow of the Champlain Bridge, from Nuns’ Island in Brossard, we are still working hard to put in place the basic infrastructure for the worksite on the St. Lawrence. At the same time, the work of casting the footings for the pillars of the bridge has already started.

“It is the large west jetty of Nuns’ Island that will be essentially the work platform for the prefabrication installations of the bridge,” explains Daniel Genest, the coordination director for the Signature Consortium on the St. Lawrence.

Over the next few months, we’ll start to see the new bridge come out of the water. It will take: the Consortium has only three and a half years to build the Champlain Bridge, while the Tappan Zee Bridge will take five years. Daniel Genest has followed the development of the New York bridge from afar and assures us that its work will also be well carried out. To date, the Consortium has even taken a little ahead of its schedule.

Watching the video of the future Montreal bridge, David Capobianco was impressed. According to him, it is a beautiful project which has several similarities with the Tappan Zee. And what does he think of the 42-month timeline given to the Consortium to get it all done?

Your schedule is pretty tight, but with knowledgeable people working together it can be done

A quote from:David Capobianco, engineer, NY State Thruway Authority

Winter and its challenges

In New York, the biggest challenge for those building the new bridge so far has been dealing with winter. This winter is much milder, but the last two have been harsh and extremely difficult for the workers to endure. It is not easy in these conditions to work easily and quickly.

“This winter we are trying to keep workers on the bridge structure rather than in the water. Last year their hands were freezing and often they couldn’t work, ”says Kelly MacMillan.

In Montreal, the 2015-2016 winter was also very mild and conditions were favorable. Even if this was not the case, the Consortium says it has everything planned. “We have already accepted that we will not work as quickly as possible in winter,” we say.

Transparency and communication

Another aspect highlighted by the New York consortium midway through the work is the importance of thinking about the surrounding communities during the construction of the bridge. There, $ 20 million was spent on various measures, ranging from the construction of work observation platforms to noise barriers, including the installation of new windows on a housing building located close to the work. .

In Montreal, Daniel Genest replies that public information meetings have been organized and that good neighborly committees have been created in Verdun, in the southwest and in Brossard. He promises that his consortium will meet expectations.

We have to deliver a quality project, that’s non-negotiable. And we have to deliver a project on time.

A quote from:Daniel Genest

The new Champlain Bridge is due to be inaugurated on December 1, 2018 and the entire project, including the approaches for the bridge, should be completed in October 2019. Under the agreement with the federal government, each day of delay would result in a hefty bill to the Consortium.