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Deconstruction of Sections 5 and 7 of the original Champlain Bridge

In collaboration with Harbourside Engineering Consultants, gbi was mandated to develop optimal methods for deconstructing the Champlain Bridge, while integrating environmental protection, material recovery, sustainable development and research and development into the project.

Markets
Transport
Submarkets
Bridges and road structures
Expertise
Demolition, Engineering, Project design and supervision
Services
Demolition, Structure
Year
2019-2023

A unique project

The gbi mandate specifically included the deconstruction and dismantling in phases of:

  • 49 concrete spans, each approximately 53 metres long and 24 metres wide, with seven (7) prestressed concrete beams spaced between them by intermediate slabs ;
  • 48 pillars and footings supporting these concrete spans over the St. Lawrence River, as well as others located outside the river on the banks ;
  • Many concrete spans required, in a first phase, the removal of the modular trusses installed over the years to reinforce the structure of the bridge. A total of 98 modular trusses were removed. 

In order to allow safe deconstruction and avoid any damage to the structures to be preserved or to the elements to be extracted for research and development purposes, several innovative methods and systems were developed by our engineers.

Expertise in deconstruction methods

Following a thorough risk analysis of the different possible methodologies, the method chosen for the deconstruction of the concrete sections of the bridge was mainly mechanical demolition using high-reach hydraulic excavators, equipped with a jaw or a hammer. These excavators were installed on temporary jetties for the sections located on both banks, and on a catamaran barge for the spans above the river.

The gbi team actively participated in the implementation of a catamaran barge, a huge floating platform, to deconstruct the spans located above the river. This platform, specially designed for the deconstruction of the 30 spans between the Île-des-Sœurs jetty and the steel structure of the seaway, capable of lifting and moving a complete span of approximately 1,900 tonnes of concrete, represented a real challenge, both during its development and design and during the supervision of the work on site. For the section overlooking Route 132 in Brossard, a key sector for mobility in the greater Montreal area, a weekend was organized, from Friday evening at 11 p.m. to Monday morning at 5 a.m. During this weekend, four spans and three pillars were deconstructed, representing approximately 12,000 tonnes of concrete removed.