Major work on the Laviolette Bridge, whose central slab must be replaced, will begin on March 31. Quebec ensures that the impacts on mobility will be “limited to the maximum”, the complete closure of this critical infrastructure being excluded from the outset. Most of the materials will also be prefabricated to reduce the impact of the works.
“Obviously, we cannot have any impact, but we really want to limit the consequences on traffic flow as much as possible,” assured the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, at a press conference Monday morning in Trois-Rivières.
Used daily by more than 42,000 motorists, 9% of which are heavy trucks, the Laviolette Bridge still has its same original concrete slab in the central spans. Despite several works carried out twenty years ago, between 1994 and 2005, recurring interventions had become inevitable, the deterioration of the infrastructure having been increasing for several years already.
Ms. Guilbault assured Monday “that no complete closure is planned during the work”. The closure of two lanes out of four, mostly at night, is however in sight. “Wherever possible,” the Department of Transportation says all four lanes of traffic will remain open during the day, weekdays.
Various “work blitzes”, especially on certain weekends or during “targeted periods” should nevertheless be carried out until 2025, which risks causing its share of congestion in the region. Details will be given in the coming days on the exact nature of these obstacles.
Closing the Laviolette Bridge entirely would have caused major traffic detours. On average, a user would have had to travel 280 kilometers more for the same journey, calculate the authorities.
The new slab of the bridge will also be built from prefabricated elements to limit the impact on users, a bit like the REM did in the west of the island of Montreal, above the highways . “It’s a very innovative technique. It has been used in 12-15 projects, and it is included in the study of at least 20 other projects. It allows us to be much more efficient and reduce the impact on people’s quality of life,” said Ms. Guilbault.
Quebec estimates that the useful life of the Laviolette Bridge, after the replacement of its central slab, will be approximately 70 years. It is the Saint-Eugène company, BPDL, which will be responsible for building the slabs, in its factory in Centre-du-Québec. “The quality will really be equal for all the slabs, because they will be manufactured in a closed environment where we control the humidity”, underlined on Monday the deputy for Drummond-Bois-Francs, Sébastien Schneeberger, also government assistant to Minister Guilbault. .
It was also intended to be reassuring with regard to traffic on the bridge during the works. “That bridge is still safe. Sometimes, when we talk about major repairs, we can have this fear, but the bridge is safe, it will continue to be. Everyone can continue to use it with peace of mind, including during construction,” she insisted.
Remember that the preparatory work surrounding the Laviolette bridge, which connects Trois-Rivières and Bécancour, but which is above all the only road link overlooking the St. Lawrence River between Quebec and Montreal, has been underway since the fall of 2022 under the deck of infrastructure. For example, platforms have been installed for major works, which will cost a total of more than 261 million.
On site, the minister responsible for Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec, Jean Boulet, spoke of an “ambitious project”. “We discussed with the chambers of commerce, the Festivoix, the Grand Prix… We won’t take anyone by surprise. It is a great gift that the Ministry of Transport gives us, because that is what worries people: the pitfalls. We want to be as unobtrusive as possible,” he maintained.
The consortium responsible for the work, Réfection Pont Laviolette (RPL), is also entirely Quebec, rejoiced Mr. Boulet. “The surveillance contract is also provided by a consortium originating from the region. This bridge, everyone is associated with it. We love the Laviolette Bridge,” he concluded.
