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What is the second largest city in Canada? To many, it reminds Paris. Not only because they speak French here, but rather because of the unusual architecture of the North of America, having the bohemian atmosphere.
This city is located on an island in the middle of the navigable St. Lawrence River. Part of the land, surrounded by water, is connected to other shores by fifteen bridges, without which it is simply impossible to imagine Montreal. They are most often depicted on postcards and tourist booklets about Quebec. They shared the glory of the city’s main attractions. An unforgettable view of Montreal opens up from the bridges of Jacques Cartier, Champlain, Mercier. That’s why crowds of tourists and visitors to the city are attracted to them like a magnet. All the uniqueness of Montreal is in them.
Champlain bridge project and other bridges
The most popular and most famous among them is Jacques Cartier, connecting central Montreal with the South Coast. Its length is about 4.5 km. So, walking it on foot is not an easy task, although it is very exciting. Moving into the same direction, you see the Champlain, which operates for almost 50 years. Its length is more than 3 km. Today, the question of its replacement is being raised, and perhaps in 10-20 years, we will hardly be able to recall what it looked like today. A new, more reliable and wide bridge will be erected in its place. Mercier also requires reconstruction – it is of the same age as Champlain.
In the near future, it is planned not only to repair the existing bridges but also to build new ones. More recently, the construction of the des Prairies, connecting Laval and Montreal, began. Perhaps, the first cars will pass through it this year. Next in line is a new bridge in the area of L’ile des Sœurs.
Load on bridges
Old and modern, long and short, tall and low – they all are a part of life. Bridges are a landmark of Montreal, but at the same time, its misfortune. Despite the fact that most of them are highways, that is, they have 6 lanes for traffic, many cannot cope with the daily load. The number of cars is growing every year and the old bridges are not designed for such intensive traffic. For example, over the six-lane Champlain bridge passes more than 60 million cars and trucks every year, and when it was erected, only 35,000 passes per year were taken into account.