Urgent work on the Pierre-Laporte Bridge

New restrictions on the Pierre-Laporte bridge are expected soon, as the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ) is due to replace two suspension cables quickly.

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Suspension cables are these numerous vertical wires intertwined with steel wires that connect the bridge base to its two massive supporting cables. The Pierre-Laporte Bridge, which turned 51 this month, has 160 bridges, more than a dozen of which have already had to be replaced in recent years.

In this case, the time is up, because the work must simply be done before the first snowfall. “Snow accumulation will greatly affect the intervention,” spokeswoman Emily Lord said in a written statement. Magazine.

The spokesperson did not specify when or under what circumstances these two cables should be renewed.

In preparation

“The lines are in production. Once they are available in mid-December, work will begin. Until they are installed, the bridge is safe because temporary work has been done on the tracks that need to be replaced before this fall, ”Mr.^Me Lord.

Inspection work on the structure took place overnight on Wednesday, and is scheduled for Thursday night, with the result that one to two of the three southern lanes will be closed.

Already, the right lane in both directions is closed to heavy trucks. Then, changing the lines should impose other restrictions as the holiday season approaches, which are not currently specified by the MTQ.

The strike of government engineers will not have any impact as it is on the list of essential services.

“These interventions are part of the ongoing maintenance, metallization and safety work on the structure to ensure its longevity,” said Emily Lord.

Smooth

This is a subtle process, but MTQ has developed a certain knowledge since the first change made in 2015. Knowing that fitting new lines would inevitably occur, the idea was to test the best way to proceed. The age of the structure. The contractor installed two temporary hangers around the permanent cable, removed it and demolished the new one.

According to the latest Infrastructure Research Report Newspaper Two weeks ago, the Pierre-Laporte Bridge had to be repaired despite its general condition (92.9 out of 100 high safety level).

The document highlights various signs of degradation, such as corrosion, cracking, and local degradation that do not compromise user safety. We also noted some broken threads under the guide plates of some lines.

The Quebec Government Engineers Professional Association (APIGQ), which is currently at loggerheads with the government, said in a statement that the situation exemplifies a “lack of expertise” in government machinery.

“The Pierre-Laporte Bridge is a very complex structure, and to get a vision of managing this infrastructure over a long period of time, we need a dedicated internal team with a sufficient number, the necessary means and resources, and a strong expertise,” he said. Mark-Andre Martin, President of APIGQ.

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