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Montreal Gazette

Exposing the underbelly of a doomed, decaying span; Repairs neededto sustain bridge until new one is built

Thu Feb 28 2013Page: A3Section: NewsByline: ANDY RIGASource: The GazetteIllustrations: :DAVE SIDAWAY, THE GAZETTE / Workers use boats to reach the Champlain Bridge where,starting next week, they will be installing queen posts to add support to the outer girders.; :DAVE SIDAWAY,THE GAZETTE / Repair work under the Champlain Bridge will continue throughout the winter.;

You don't hear the roar of traffic whenyou're perched under the ChamplainBridge, dangling on a work platform 15metres above the frigid St. Lawrence River.

On Tuesday, The Gazette toured theunderbelly of the doomed, decaying span.

A dozen workers confidently strode about,seemingly unaffected by the height, thecold and the danger. They were putting thefinishing touches on the work platform, inpreparation for yet another patch-up job.

Starting next week, unbeknownst to the

160,000 drivers who zoom by daily acouple of metres above, the workers will beinstalling elaborate steel contraptions onthis section of the Champlain.

Known as "queen posts," the devices willprovide structural support to the bridge'souter girders, whose internal steel rods arebadly corroded.

Girders are concrete beams that are right

below the roadway. On the Champlain,there are 50 sets of seven girders runningparallel to traffic.

The strength of the queen posts - fromstretched steel cables - will add to thestrength from other external support

devices already installed in recent years.

The new queen posts, hanging down overthe water, push the girders up. The

previous support, now installedhorizontally along the outside of all but ahandful of girders, provide lateral strength.

They're both part of what has become anew external skeleton for the bridge,compensating for the degraded outergirders.

Despite appearances and the constantshoring up, federal officials insist the

bridge is safe and will remain so until areplacement is ready.

The Champlain, Canada's busiest bridge, is51 years old.

It was not built to withstand the enormousamounts of salt used in Montreal winters.The outer girders have been subjected tothe most salt.

You can't simply replace girders. Under thebridge's unusual design, each section ofgirders was knitted together using concreteand steel rods, making girder replacementimpossible.

Ottawa plans to build a new Champlain.

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Price tag: $3 billion to $5 billion. It isexpected to open in 2021.

After that, it will take three years and costan estimated $155 million to dismantle the

old Champlain. (Explosives are not anoption because of environmental rules.)

Before the bridge can go, Ottawa has said itwill have to spend hundreds of millions ofdollars on end-of-life care for theChamplain.

The deficient girders aren't the only partsof the bridge underside that need fixing.

Workers must also repair the bridge's piers,the thick, concrete pillars that hold thebridge up out of the water.

From a boat, you get a close-up view of theominous decay on piers that have yet to berepaired. The outer layer of concrete iscrumbling and rusted reinforcement rodsjut out.

To fix the piers, workers peel off loose

concrete, add steel reinforcing rods andinstall wood formwork around the pier.Then, new concrete is poured. Pier caps -the tops of the pillars - must also berepaired.

Atop the bridge, Ottawa has paving to doand it must replace several expansionjoints, the devices that absorb vibrationfrom vehicles and allow sections of thebridge to shift slightly.

Repairs under the bridge do not affecttraffic, but the expansion-joint work andpaving require lanes to be closed.

Last year, lanes were closed over threeweekends so four expansion joints could be

replaced and parts of the bridge could bere-paved. It was part of the $105 million inwork on federal bridges in Montreal.

The impact of this year's effort is not

known yet.

In March or April, Jacques Cartier andChamplain Bridges Inc., the federal bridgeagency, expects to announce its workplans. It says major work affectingmotorists will be done on weekends.

From the work platform suspended underthe Champlain, you can see a much olderbridge in the distance.

The Victoria Bridge stands proudly,oblivious to salt and aging. Opened in1859, the Victoria - a steel bridge on stonepiers - shows no signs of giving up.

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ariga@ montrealgazette.com Twitter:@andyriga Facebook: AndyRigaMontreal

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