A New Bridge for the St. Lawrence

Strategic Forum – Major Transport Projects June 1, 2012
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Objectives
• Provide an overview of the project
• Present the preliminary timeline
• Describe the federal environmental assessment process
• Explain the business case development process
• Underline the importance of stakeholder involvement
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A New Bridge for the St. Lawrence
• On October 5, 2011, the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and
Communities, the Honourable Denis Lebel, announced the
construction of a New Bridge for the St. Lawrence to replace the
Champlain Bridge.
• Transport Canada was given
the mandate to assume the
governance of this project.
• A public private partnership
is the preferred option for
the construction, financing
and operation of the new
bridge.
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Existing Corridor
• The Champlain Bridge is the busiest bridge in Canada.
• Traffic and trade, per year
– All vehicles : 60 millions
– Trucks : 6.2 millions (10.4 % of
vehicles crossing the bridge)
– Bus : 200,000
– Public transit users : 11 millions
– International trade : 20 billion dollars
• Many studies and reports were
considered in the decision to
build a new bridge.
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Pre-Feasibility Study
• The study examined different options for the
construction of a bridge or tunnel. It
considered requirements for transportation
and traffic, environmental aspects, methods
of delivery as well as financial considerations.
• The study favours the replacement of the
existing bridge by an eight-lane bridge,
including two lanes dedicated to public
transit.
• The recommendations from the study will be
used as the basis for the design of the
project.
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Components of the Project
Component A – Reconstruction and widening of Highway 15
Component B – New Nuns’ Island Bridge
Component C – Work on Nuns’ Island
Component D – A New Bridge for the St. Lawrence
Component E – Alignment with Highway 10
Component F – Demolition of Champlain Bridge
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Component A - Reconstruction and
Widening of Highway 15
• The reconstruction and widening of Highway 15 will be done on the federal
portion of Highway 15 between the Nuns’ Island Bridge and the Atwater Avenue
exit/access.
• A third lane in each direction is planned to provide continuity with the three lanes
between the Turcot Interchange and the New Bridge for the St. Lawrence.
• Work will also be required on several access ramps in the Atwater and Nuns’ Island
Bridge areas.
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Component B –
New Nuns’ Island Bridge
• The existing bridge between Nuns’ Island and the Island of Montreal will
be replaced.
• It is too early to confirm the final bridge design.
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Component C –
Work on Nuns’ Island
• Work on Nuns’ Island will consist of changes to Highway 10, to the access
ramps of both the New Bridge for the St. Lawrence and the Nuns’ Island
Bridge, and to local roads.
• Access ramps to and from Nuns’ Island will also need to be aligned with
the new bridge.
• Additional work may also be required to accommodate public transit.
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Component D –
A New Bridge for the St. Lawrence
• The New Bridge for the St. Lawrence will be located downstream from the
Champlain Bridge.
• It will begin at Nuns’ Island (Montreal’s Verdun borough), cross the St. Lawrence
River and St. Lawrence Seaway, and will end in the City of Brossard on the South
Shore. The pre-feasibility study indicates that the best design for the bridge would
be three lanes in each direction for vehicles and the possibility of a fourth lane in
each direction for public transit.
• The bridge has three components :
– Component D1a : crossing of the St. Lawrence River between Nuns’ Island and the Seaway;
– Component D2 : crossing the Seaway; and
– Component D1b : crossing of the navigable section between the Seaway and the Brossard shore. 10

Component E –
Alignment with Highway 10
• Highway 10 will need to be realigned with the New Bridge for the
St. Lawrence.
• The existing bridge access ramps on the South Shore will also need to be
slightly realigned to connect with Highway 10.
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Component F –
Demolition of Champlain Bridge
• The demolition of the existing Champlain Bridge will likely proceed once
the New Bridge for the St. Lawrence is built.
• St. Lawrence Seaway operations and environmental restrictions will also
need to be taken into account.
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Preliminary Timeline
• The Pre-Feasibility Study foresees that a period of ten years will be
required before the new bridge can be in service, which includes the time
required for the environmental assessment, the design, the engineering
and the construction. The demolition of the existing bridge will follow.
Preliminary Timetable - New Bridge for the St. Lawrence
HIGH LEVEL COMPONENTS
Environmental Assessment
Preliminary design and financial analysis
Preliminary engineering and development of specifications
Invitation to tender for construction and contract award
Final plans and specifications and construction (by bridge constructor)
Demolition of the old bridge (by bridge constructor)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
* This is a preliminary timeline that will be refined over the coming months.
• Ways of shortening this timeline without affecting the quality of the work
will be considered.
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Environmental Assessment
• The federal environmental assessment was launched on January 22, 2012.
• Given that certain project parameters are not yet defined, the approach
adopted for the environmental assessment will allow for mitigation
measures to be issued as objectives. These mitigation measures will be
integrated into the project specifications.
• Following a request for proposals, the
Dessau|Cima+ Consortium was selected
to conduct the environmental assessment.
• Public consultations related to the
environmental assessment are planned
between Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.
• The environmental assessment should be
completed within 18 months.
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Development of the Business Case
• On March 30, 2012, Transport Canada launched an important
request for proposals to retain expert financial, technical and
engineering services.
• The request’s objectives are to :
– Develop a business case and contribute to project planning;
– Establish traffic and revenue forecasts; and
– Undertake preliminary design and costing work.
• The request was posted on MERX, the website for Canadian
government procurement, until May 31 st , 2012.
• This phase should be completed within 18 months.
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Business Case – Components
Component 1 : Development of the Business Case and Project Planning
• Assist Transport Canada with the overall integrated planning of the project.
• Develop the business case, including a value-for money assessment and an
evaluation of potential public-private partnership models, in order to identify the
optimal procurement strategy to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the
new bridge corridor.
Component 2 : Traffic and Revenue Forecasts
• Establish the traffic and revenue forecasts that will be used to develop the
business case, including potential toll revenues that could be generated.
Component 3 : Preliminary Design and Costing
• Validate the conclusions of the prefeasibility studies on the replacement of the
Champlain Bridge, the Nuns’ Island Bridge and Highway 15 and confirm the
modifications needed to the connections to the existing road network.
• Provide cost estimates (Class “D”) of the expected design and construction work
for each of the options studied.
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Stakeholder Engagement
• Concurrent to the completion of the studies, frequent
meetings with project stakeholders will be held to ensure
close coordination.
• Advisory Committees will be established to ensure formal
collaboration between key stakeholders, including:
– A strategic committee comprised of organizations whose territory
and/or jurisdiction is directly affected by the project;
– Technical committees to manage specific components of the project
such the environment or engineering.
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Next Steps
• Transport Canada will continue the essential preliminary work to
advance the project, including :
– Meetings with stakeholders affected by the project will continue on a regular
basis.
– The selection of a firm to carry out the business case is planned for the end of
June.
– The federal environmental assessment should be completed within 18
months.
• For more information on the project, please consult the New Bridge for
the St. Lawrence section on Transport Canada’s website :
www.tc.gc.ca/nbfsl
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