The Champlain Bridge in Montreal is one of  the city’s main traffic links and Canada’s busiest bridge, with an average of 136,000 vehicle crossings per day.

However, due to the extreme climate in Montreal, as well as the use of road salt on the pavement, the more than 50-year-old bridge is suffering progressive deterioration that maintenance and repair plans have not been able to stop. So, the federal government decided to build another bridge as a replacement.

In 2015, the Signature on the Saint Lawrence Group, formed by SNC-Lavalin, ACS and HOCHTIEF, began working on the construction of the New Champlain Bridge, located in parallel and a few metres away from the current bridge, which is still open to traffic. 

The new bridge will feature a spectacular 558 ft. tall main pylon, which is being built with the support of a c 21LC550 crane.

The crane arrived on the jobsite in early September and was erected on the deck of the bridge, with a height under hook of about 225 ft.

When the crane’s work is complete, it will stand 591 ft. from the base of the pylon and403 ft. from the deck of the bridge. 

The 21LC550 has maximum load capacity of 55,120 lbs., which will be utilized to lift large precast concrete structures and heavy formwork panel. Another version of the crane is available with maximum load of 44,090 lbs.

With a cost of $4.2 billion, the new Champlain Bridge is one of Canada’s largest public projects underway.

With completion scheduled for 2018, the project will see construction of the second bridge span 3.4 km as well as a 470 metre bridge to connect Nun’s Island.  The bridge is expected to have a 125-year lifespan. 

The project also includes the widening of Highway 15 from the Atwater interchange to the new bridge.