Rebecca Maloney
Americas Press Office ,Boston
The Arup-led team for the New Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Montreal delivers an innovative design.
As technical advisors and engineers on the project, Arup was tasked with delivering a high quality architectural design for the New Bridge. Working closely with architects Dissing+Weitling of Denmark and Provencher Roy Associés Architectes of Montreal, and with the support of Groupe SM for highway components, the team has created a unique signature bridge design, sensitive to the needs of Montreal and with the appeal to become a new icon for the St. Lawrence River, the city of Montreal, and Canada as a whole.
The Arup team has also contributed to a new procurement approach with Canada as this will be the first time that a Canadian public private-partnership procurement will include a definition design for a bridge which ensures that the architectural vision is realised in the finished product while leaving the freedom for innovation to the short listed consortia bidding to design, construct, and operate the New Bridge.
The architectural features of the new three kilometre-long bridge have been developed alongside rigorously defined technical criteria that will achieve a 125-year design life. The curved alignment and sculptural piers create an instantly recognisable shore-to-shore design with the elegant main tower and its harp of cables adding a unique accent to the bridge. The design accommodates future public transport plans by retaining the flexibility to run buses or a light rail train on a central transit corridor.
The New Bridge will replace the existing Champlain Bridge and connect the Island of Montreal with the South Shore through complex highway junctions and smaller bridges including a new Ile des Soeurs bridge. The Champlain Bridge is used by up to 60m vehicles per year and is one of the busiest vehicle crossings in Canada, vital to both the Quebec and Canadian economy. Connectivity between the South Shore and Montreal is further enhanced by a multiple-use path over the bridge and by viewing platforms both on and near the bridge that will showcase views of the city and the St. Lawrence River.