The replacement for the Champlain Bridge will not open on time, the federal government and the consortium building the bridge confirmed Thursday.
Though the bridge was set to open on Dec. 21, officials said it will be too cold by then to give the bridge its final yet all-important touches: installing waterproof membranes and paving the road with asphalt.
Earlier this year officials reassured the public that construction on the new bridge was going well and that it was going to open on Dec. 21 instead of Dec. 1.
Now the bridge will only open next spring, and by June 2019 at the latest.
“We committed to the government of Canada to deliver the bridge on time so we thought it was achievable,” said Daniel Genest of Signature on the St. Lawrence, the consortium building the new bridge.
Genest said the main structure of the bridge will be finished by Dec. 21 – but it will face penalties for being late.
The initial contract specified penalties of $100,000 per day, going up to $400,000 per day after one week, with a cap of $150 million.
The SSL is going to argue that some of the delays were not its fault and that it should get some sort of break in paying a penalty but Federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Francois-Philippe Champagne said the maximum fine will be imposed.
"There's no wiggle room whatsoever. Like I said the contract is clear. We're going to be reviewing the terms and conditions of the contract and trust me we're going to apply it fairly, equitably because we're the government of Canada, but like I said there will be consequences both in terms of timing and financially," said Champagne.
Some of the delays this year include a lightning strike that damaged a crane and a week-long strike by crane operators.
“When you add all of these elements together you find yourself in this situation where you create this additional delay across the project,” said Genest.
About 500 metres of the bridge has already been waterproofed and paved.
It will take about 65 days to waterproof and pave the rest of the 11 km of roadways on the bridge, and that work cannot take place in cold or rainy weather. Asphalt requires temperatures of at least 2 degrees Celsius to be poured.
Mayor Valerie Plante responded, saying it’s a letdown, but we have to think of the big picture.
“Well of course I'm disappointed, like many Montrealers, we were looking forward to trying the bridge in December. That being said, I think it is important to remember that this infrastructure will be there for more than 100 years, so we need to make sure that everything is ready to go and properly done,”
The new Champlain is being built to last 125 years, and will see 60 million cars and trucks crossing the 3.4-kilometre span every year.
The federal government has spent nearly half a billion dollars maintaining the old Champlain Bridge since it was first announced a replacement would be built.
Bridge officials have said repeatedly that if the new bridge was delayed, the old bridge would continue to be kept in working order until it could finally be retired.
