A steel structure will be installed in the coming months under the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge to provide additional support. Objective: limit “the risk of additional traffic lane closures” between now and the opening of the new bridge, planned 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 should 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 destined to be replaced by a new, wider infrastructure which is to be partially commissioned by 2026. In the meantime, however, all six lanes should be reopened on the existing bridge, pending the new one. For the moment, only three lanes out of six are accessible, but the government says it is working hard to “add lanes on the current bridge by the end of fall 2024”.
Since May 27, the ministry has already put dynamic traffic management in place. The measure, which makes it possible to clear two lanes in the direction of the point, had been ruled out in recent months due to lack of space on the site.
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 bus terminal and the Vaudreuil train station. A 25% discount is also still in effect on the purchase of a 10-pass ticket for public transport, in zones A, B and C.