Old wooden sleepers which had recently become visible again on a Montreal street were removed by the Sud-Ouest borough.
“The South-West Public Works team mobilized on September 20 to saw the roadway and remove the old wooden sleepers, as well as deteriorated paving. On Thursday, she prepared the foundation of the road structure in preparation for the temporary paving which will be carried out on Friday. The passage is currently secure for cars,” points out Anyck Paradis, communications manager for the South-West district.
Visible on Du Couvent Street, near Notre-Dame Street, the sleepers were probably part of the Grand Trunk railway line. They were the subject of an article in The Press last week.
Pierre Barrieau, president of Gris Orange Consultant and lecturer at the planning faculty of the University of Montreal, noted that these were “very probably” sleepers of the railway line which connected the port of Lachine to the downtown Montreal, the first railway in Montreal, which crossed the Saint-Henri district.
“I would bet it comes from that railway,” he said.
In Montreal, many railway and tram tracks were covered with bitumen in the last century, a less expensive option than removing them.
Over the years, freezing and thawing cause the sleepers to become visible again. A phenomenon that is accelerating with climate warming, which increases the number of freezing and thawing episodes during the cold season.
The situation presented a certain danger since wet wood is slippery for the person placing the wheel or foot on it.