Hydro-Quebec replacing pylon after crash that caused massive power outages

Hydro-Quebec is working to replace the electrical pylon that collapsed on Montreal's South Shore following a collision between a bus and a car last weekend.

"We are carefully removing each cable. Of course, there's no power on it right now but the structure that came down is still attached to other pylons," explains Cendrix Bouchard, a spokesperson with Hydro-Quebec. "We're being very precise in the work that we do and the order in which we do it in order to not cause a problem on the network on a different pylon."

The Crown corporation says it is doing its best to work efficiently for commuters using Highway 30 while prioritizing its workers' safety.

"We're trying to [work] as quickly as possible because we do understand that there's an impact on traffic," said Bouchard, noting work to replace the pylon started Wednesday morning but stalled due to the heavy rain.

He points out that though this incident was a unique one, Hydro-Quebec does sometimes replace pylons for other reasons.

"It will take several days in order to completely remove the pylon and build a new one," he said. "There's going to be a new pylon that's going to be assembled on site, and we're going to reattach the cables that are already existing on the new pylon."

Hydro-Quebec says it doesn't expect there to be any power outages during the work.

2 arrested, 3 injured

The crash happened at 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 6 at the corner of Highway 30 and Chambly Road when a bus collided with a car before swerving off the road and into the pylon, causing it to fall and cut power to 88,000 Hydro-Quebec customers.

The two drivers involved in the crash were arrested by Longueuil police (SPAL) following the incident.

The driver of the Association des pompiers auxiliaires de la Montérégie (APAM) bus, a man in his 60s, is facing charges of dangerous driving causing injury.

The woman driving the car was charged with impaired driving.

Three people were injured in the crash, including two on the bus and one in the car.