The Samuel De Champlain Bridge has officially opened in Montreal. The $4.4B bridge is one of Canada’s largest infrastructure projects.

The bridge was built and will be operated for the next 30 years through a public-private partnership between the Government of Canada and Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group.

T.Y. Lin International, in a joint venture with International Bridge Technologies and SNC-Lavalin, served as the managing partner and lead designer for the 3.4-kilometer-long replacement bridge. The Samuel De Champlain Bridge opened in two phases, with the northern lanes toward Montreal opened on June 24, 2019, and the southern corridor toward Brossard opened on July 1, 2019.

Designed by a team composed of Arup and architects Dissing+Weitling and Provencher Roy & Associates, the new bridge has a projected useful life of 125 years.

Serving as a major gateway into the City of Montreal, the Samuel De Champlain Bridge comprises three independent superstructures supported by common piers. These include the 529-meter-long, asymmetric cable-stayed bridge signature span, with a main span of 240 meters; the 762-meter-long East Approach, with a maximum span of 109 meters; and the 2,044-meter-long West Approach, with a typical span of 80.4 meters.

Project partners had to meet an aggressive design-build schedule. Along with stringent design and performance criteria, the project came with various site constraints and hazards. These included construction under Montreal’s severe winter conditions, wind and seismic hazards, navigational requirements, no-construction zones, construction in a densely developed urban center, and strict compliance to the architectural requirements of the project.

The Samuel De Champlain Bridge replaces the old Champlain Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1962 and stood as one of Canada’s busiest crossings. The new bridge will carry approximately 50 million crossings each year, representing international trade valued at $20 billion.