A portion of a municipal road collapsed on Saturday in Rawdon, in Lanaudière, due to a beaver dam which “could have given way” according to the mayor of the municipality. Traffic will be interrupted until at least next Friday, while repair work is carried out.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
It was around 4:50 a.m. on Saturday morning that this spectacular collapse took place. The scene took place on chemin du Lac-Morgan, near the village of Canadiana.
“We think it’s a beaver dam that broke. There are three culverts that caved in, and then the water went down the road. It happened quite intensely, ”described the mayor of Rawdon, Raymond Rougeau, when reached by telephone.
Under the pressure of the infiltrating water, the asphalt and the path quickly crumbled. The City says it has already received three bids from contractors to carry out repairs.
“We have a few culverts in inventory in our municipal garage, which means that we anticipate that the contractor could possibly start work on Monday. And we can provide the culvert, so that will speed up the repair. If all goes well, the road will reopen next Friday,” said Mayor Rougeau.
In the meantime, a good part of Chemin du Lac-Morgan will remain closed. Detours have been put in place for motorists, which will take an additional 20 minutes on average for citizens passing through, depending on their destination. At least that is what the municipal administration believes, which will have to bear the costs of this collapse.
This is not the first time that such an event has occurred in the Rawdon sector. A few years ago, a major subsidence occurred on Queen Street. The repairs that followed had taken almost three months. Last year, a culvert also gave way on rue de la Montagne.
For Mr. Rougeau, this type of incident could be called upon to happen more often in the future, with “the weather which is sometimes unleashed intensively”.